Like so many others, Jackie Slater had doubts when the Rams signed offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth in 2017.
Even though the Hall of Fame tackle had personal experience playing at a high level in his late-30s, it’s a precarious age range for any player. And when Whitworth inked a three-year, $36 million deal in 2017, he was already 35.
“There were a lot of people concerned about a guy that age coming in,” Slater told Compare.bet this week. “I knew he would provide great leadership, but I wondered how productive he would be as a player, because Marvin Lewis was the head coach in Cincinnati, and I couldn’t imagine that money or other issues would cause him to leave. There were a lot of questions about it.”
The Rams were coming off a 4-12 campaign when Whitworth signed, and it was fair to wonder if he would be well into retirement by the time they became competitive.
Instead, the star left tackle has been an integral cog during a dazzling five-year run, and now at age 40, remains one of the biggest keys to success as Los Angeles preps for its wild card game on Monday night against the Arizona Cardinals.
Highest pass-blocking grade this season:
🥇 Andrew Whitworth- 90.7
Not bad for a 40-year old 💪 pic.twitter.com/dNz0tfqawv
— PFF (@PFF) January 7, 2022
In that win-or-go-home contest, Whitworth will be responsible for slowing down Arizona’s duo of double-digit sack artists – Chandler Jones and Markus Golden. If the regular season was any indication, he will acquit himself just fine.
Whitworth ended the year with the highest pass-blocking grade among tackles in the entire NFL, according to Pro Football Focus, allowing just 16 pressures in 597 pass-blocking snaps.
For comparison, Arizona’s left tackle, 28-year-old D.J. Humphries, has allowed 17 pressures in his past three games alone.
“For him to have been able to survive this long, it’s so impressive,” Slater said. “You don’t see a whole lot of people doing it.”
Whitworth and Slater are two of six offensive linemen to play into their 40s, along with Bruce Matthews, Ray Brown and Phil and John Nesser. Slater played 20 seasons – making seven Pro Bowls in that stretch – but such longevity was a rarity during his stint from 1976 to 1995.
Whitworth and Tom Brady are the only two players 40 and older currently playing, but Slater could see that number increase moving forward because of the present-day setup.
“I take my hat off to guys continuing to play, but it’s not as big of a chore to do it today,” Slater said. “Once you break training camp, you only get 10 padded practices the remainder of the season. Shoot, I was running through 10 padded practices in the first three or four weeks of the season back in those days.
“For guys like Whitworth, it’s not like he has to go and beat himself up in the preseason. He can lift weights and stretch. The coaches are taking care of him, monitoring his reps every step of the way. Man, if I had somebody to monitor my reps every step of the way, I might still be playing.”
Just amazes me that Jackie Slater was voted to 7 Pro Bowls as a HOF OT — and his kid Matthew has been voted to even more as a special-teamer (10). What a family.
— Dan Daly (@dandalyonsports) December 23, 2021
Plenty of athletes start losing their skills around the age of 30, but it’s been a nice run for older tackles. The 49ers’ Trent Williams, 33, was arguably the best pound-for-pound player in the NFL this season.
Jason Peters, 39, started 15 games for the Bears. Tyron Smith, 31, remains one of the NFL’s best for the Cowboys and the same can be said for 31-year-old Lane Johnson in Philadelphia.
“So much of an offensive lineman’s success depends on how he masters certain skill-sets,” Slater said. “I became consumed with mastering these skill-sets, and honed these skill-sets as I got older. Feeling like I wasn’t quite as quick, or fast, or strong, they became non-consequential, because it was moreso how I put my feet in the ground, my pad level, how I used my arms or countered the way he was using his arms. Those were the things I focused on, and kept me playing at a high level and kept me going to the Pro Bowl in my 15th year.”
Whitworth has traveled that same road, and even though teammates like Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey get more attention, the Rams will be leaning on their elder statesmen quite a bit against the Cardinals.
“A lot of coaches want those experienced guys that can be leaders and help win games,” Slater said. “That’s where Andrew Whitworth fits in.”
