No team can exist solely on young players. Even rebuilding teams must give their young hopefuls some veteran influence to look up to in order to live up to their potential. The youngsters take advice from the vets and in many cases pattern their games off of them.
Comparisons are also inevitable. The question of “who is the next...” is thrown around a lot. These players grow up with heroes and aspire to write similar NFL success stories.
Jon Gruden likes to compare his current players with his former players. He knows such statements make some ink.