A little off topic but I remember years ago when the 2 top QB prospects in the NFL draft where Rick Mirer and Drew Bledsoe. The Patriots took Bledsoe because Bledsoe was much younger.

"One of the main criteria was the disparity in age," [Parcells] said. "One player (Mirer) was 23, the other player (Bledsoe) was 20. So I had to look at that and say, OK, where could this player who's 20 potentially be when he's 23? And what do I have as opposed to the other player, who will be 26?"

So good coaches do take age and its impact on the developmental arc into account when selecting athletes.