Young and successful

Quarterback Jason Campbell, 24, threw two touchdown passes.

Tight end Chris Cooley, 24, caught the game-winning, 66-yard score.

Linebacker Rocky McIntosh, 24, set up Campbell’s first touchdown with a blocked punt.

Defensive tackle Kedric Golston, 23, started and made four tackles.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers, 25, had six tackles and three pass break-ups.

And safety Sean Taylor, 23, cemented the Washington Redskins’ 17-13 victory Sunday over Carolina with an interception.

See a pattern forming?

Although the Redskins remain the NFL’s oldest team and started six players 30 or older against the Panthers, a youth movement of sorts has been set in motion the last two games.

Campbell replaced Mark Brunell, 36, at quarterback and has four touchdown passes and one interception in two starts. Golston took a starting role from oft-injured Joe Salave’a, 31, and has produced a surprising rookie season.

Cooley, Rogers and Taylor have been starters all season. McIntosh is second on the team in special teams tackles while waiting for his shot at replacing 31-year-old Warrick Holdman.

“We do have a young team in a lot of areas,” Campbell said yesterday at Redskin Park. “The more we continue to mature, the better things will get. For me, it’s doing things over and over and over again and getting more comfortable with my receivers. Carlos and Sean had great games [Sunday], and Rocky did a great job on the punt. It’s good to see that out of the young guys.”

All six of the players are Redskins draft picks. Problem is, the team has made a habit of trading away so many of their picks (25 from 2000 to 2007) that it has become difficult for the team to build its depth chart during the draft. In the upcoming draft, the Redskins are likely to have picks in rounds 1, 5, 6 and 7 — enabling them to abandon the high-risk world of free agency and signing bonuses.

Of the 45 Redskins active against the Panthers, only 12 were drafted by the team. By comparison, Dallas used 19 drafted players last week against Tampa Bay.

Recent draft history and roster breakdowns aren’t a concern of the Redskins’ young players. Getting a chance to play, producing and creating good feelings about this season and carrying momentum into 2007 is their goal for the final five games.

Campbell’s outing was the epitome of the “managing the game” cliche that’s repeated ad nauseam throughout the NFL. He was 11-for-23 for 118 yards.

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