Bedard: Just 1 preseason game, but Patriots showed potential for much-needed youth movement

This precursor should go before every story written about the preseason, especially the first game, even when you win 31-3 as the Patriots did against the Lions on Thursday night. So here it is: never, ever read too much into a preseason performance, either positively or negatively. It's fool's gold. Always has been, always will.

You've been warned.

That being said, even the most unbiased observer couldn't help but flash a wry smile at the demonstration by the Belichick Youth on display at Ford Field.

There was tight end Matt LaCosse (26-years old) catching and running with the game's first big play, a 24-yard reception on the second series.

On third-and-10, N'Keal Harry (21) showed everyone why the Patriots took him in the first round with a great back-shoulder grab on third-and-10 ... and he'd add another for 25.

Maurice Harris (26) caught the touchdown two plays later, and Braxton Berrios (23) converted a big fourth down.

There was J.C. Jackson (23) breaking up a play down the field. Jake Bailey (22) booming his first professional punt with an astounding 5.44 seconds of hangtime.

Jakobi Meyers (22) caught two touchdown passes as an undrafted free agent, including one from Jarrett Stidham (23), who completed 11 of 17 passes for 139 yards through three quarters.

On defense, Derek Rivers (25) had two sacks and Chase Winovich (24) added 1.5. Ja'Whaun Bentley (22) picked up where he left off as a rookie with his own sack.

It was just for starters but, man, what a nice little display of football by the Patriots who are still very much using training wheels. One preseason game doesn't mean anything, but it's obvious there's a little bit of talent in that group.

And if some of them continue to progress, what a breath of fresh air that would be to this team.

Look, we all know the deal. The Patriots are the defending Super Bowl champions and have won three out of the last five. They own the AFC spot in the big game.

But it's also true that this team — as great as it might be — is not getting any younger. And the most recent Super Bowl win aside, the Patriots desperately need an infusion of youth.

And maybe, finally, they're getting it.

Why do they need to start trending a little younger?

For starters, you're playing with fire with an aging roster. Actually, let's just cut to the chase: they're old, and we're not just talking about Tom Brady. The Patriots were the oldest Super Bowl winner by FootballOutsiders.com's snap-weight age metric (weighting the age of each player by the number of snaps he played in the regular season) since they started keeping the stat. The offense and special teams were the oldest in the league, the defense was fifth.

Sure, the Patriots maybe have hit on an advantage having the oldest roster (the league's snap-weighted age average dropped for a third-straight year) but it was very much by accident, and/or out of necessity — unless you think the Patriots purposely had nearly their entire 2018 draft class go on injured reserve and had their '17 and '16 classes produce little.

There are two big issues with trending older. The first is you're playing with fire in terms of health, as older players are obviously at greater risk for injury. And the second, which has become an issue for the second-straight season, is that an older roster is a more expensive one when it comes to the salary cap. The less cap space you have, the more of the players you've developed will walk out the door, like Trey Flowers and Malcolm Butler did the previous two years, and like Joe Thuney might have to do after this season.

There's also the issue of pushing more and more money cap into future years. The Patriots had to adjust Stephon Gilmore's contract last year just to meet their cap obligations, and the same with Brady's this year. Those are moves, especially in Gilmore's case, the Patriots rarely did in previous years. Now they're becoming routine. If Brady retires after this season, there will be $13 million in dead cap. Gilmore and his $19 million cap number starting in 2020 will need to be adjusted, but his previously prorated cap will still be an issue.

And with less cap space, the more you have to turn to cheaper (i.e. troubled and/or injured) alternatives to augment the roster (ahem, Josh Gordon) that could leave the team with holes at some point.

And all of that squarely goes back to the aging and, therefore, more expensive roster.

But Thursday night, there was a flicker of hope that the Patriots could be going in the other direction.

It's a sad sight to have to watch some of your best young talent shuffle out the door. Jimmy Garoppolo was traded (we all understood that one) at 25. Flowers was the same age. Butler was 27 when he left.

Probably says a lot that was the extent of the recent youthful losses – and that it's not like the roster was stocked with proven young talent before Thursday night.

This was the extent of the proven-and-young list (27 and younger) before the Patriots took the field against Detroit: 27-James White, David Andrews; 26-Joe Thuney; 25-Shaq Mason; 24-Sony Michel ... and that was it — two running backs and three offensive linemen.

Now, after Thursday night, even in a meaningless game, you can start to see the potential for a much-needed youth movement — and we didn't even get to see RB Damien Harris (thumb), LT Isaiah Wynn (Achilles), CB Jonathan Jones (rest), WR Cameron Meredith (knee) or OT Yodny Cajuste (quad).

Of course, the more healthy and viable young players there are, the more it will put some of those aging veterans on the potential cutting block. But that's a discussion and debate for another day.

For now, tip the cap that the Patriots' younger generation had a very successful debut. The past has been the domain of these Patriots. Maybe the future will now be as well.