For the better part of the last two years, Herm Edwards has spoken many times and at great length about the need of the Chiefs to become a younger team. When he took over the franchise from Dick Vermeil in 2006, Edwards inherited one of the oldest squads in the league. That was especially visible last season, when the team’s aged offensive line fell apart and was the biggest reason the team went 4-12.

Edwards said that had to change.

It has.

Boy has it ever.

As the dust settled over the weekend and the Chiefs adjusted their roster to make the regular-season limit of 53 players, the work Edwards and the front office has done to change the face of the franchise became very obvious.

Start with this: the Chiefs roster has an average age right now of 25.6 years of age.

The average experience is 3.6 years.

Then add this: 33 players are in their third season or less in the league. That’s 62.3 percent.

Don’t stop there: 16 of the 53 players have never played an NFL game, that’s 30.2 percent.

And this: 31 of the players are 25 years or younger, that’s 58.5 percent.

Plus: 22 players are 23 years or younger, that’s 41.5 percent.

This team is young, young, young.

We will have to wait for the returns from the 31 other NFL precincts to figure out if the Chiefs are the youngest team in the league. If they aren’t, there’s no question they will be in the top two or three.

All those young faces haven’t jumped into the starting lineup just yet. But they are coming and they are coming fast. Right now, there are four rookies that will be on the field for the opening play of games (if healthy): LT Branden Albert, FB Mike Cox, DT Glenn Dorsey and CB Brandon Flowers.

Overall, the starting group has gotten younger. Right now, it averages 26 years of age, with 4.6 years of experience in the NFL. Five of the 22 players are 30 years or older. Nine of the 22 players are 23 years or younger.

The Chiefs starting defensive line is home grown. Turk McBride (23), Tank Tyler (23), Glenn Dorsey (23) and Tamba Hali (24) are all Kansas City draft choices. When Brandon Carr gets on the field in place of Patrick Surtain, the Chiefs secondary will be even younger than their defensive front. Carr (22), Brandon Flowers (22), Bernard Pollard (23) and Jarrad Page (23) are also home grown.

That’s another thing Edwards wanted to do: build a Chiefs team that was a Chiefs team, players that grew up at Arrowhead Stadium. From the 2008 NFL Draft, 10 of the 12 picks are on the active roster. From the ‘07 Draft five of the seven picks are still wearing a Chiefs uniform. From the ‘06 Draft (Edwards first with the team) five of seven are on the roster.

Going mathematically again, that’s 20 draft choices in the last three years that are part of the team. Overall, the roster has 28 players who have never been with another NFL organization, with 23 of those players being Chiefs draft choices.

The reason Edwards wanted to go young was to build a franchise that would be able to contend for the playoffs over a long period of time. He wanted the foundation of that team to be home grown, Chiefs drafted, young players.

As the Chiefs begin preparations to go to Foxboro to open the ‘08 regular season, that’s just what they have put together. They Chiefs are young today. They will be young tomorrow and every tomorrow through the 2008 season.

Now comes the hard part: turning those young, baby faces into tough, productive and successful NFL players. The math on that is simple. Check under “W” in the standings.