Baltimore Ravens: Marshal Yanda At No. 79 in NFL Top 100 is Disrespectful
By Joe Serpico
Another Baltimore Ravens superstar has been added to the NFL Network’s list of the top 100 players in the NFL as Marshal Yanda was ranked 79th by his peers. It is a slight drop for the All-Pro offensive guard who was ranked 55th on the list last season.
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Yanda has been a mainstay at guard since he was drafted in 2007, and the four-time Pro Bowler has only missed two games since the start of the 2009 season. The guard position doesn’t get the glamour that offensive tackles receive. They say the more athletic players play on the outside. However, Yanda showed his versatility when he was moved outside following the injury to Rick Wagner last season.
The Ravens are looking to extend Yanda for the second time since he was selected in the third round out of Iowa. He signed a five-year, $32 million contract in 2011, and is currently in the final year of that deal. Ozzie Newsome is hopeful to get a contract extension to get done or face the possibility of losing the best interior offensive lineman in the NFL.
Yanda is the lone guard to make the list, and was ranked the top offensive lineman in football by Pro Football Focus. In fact, PFF ranked him as the fifth-best player in the entire NFL. Yanda coming in at No. 79 only solidifies my position that Baltimore is being overlooked by their peers.
He is the fourth Raven to make the annual list, joining C.J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs and Joe Flacco. Last week, I wrote how the Ravens were being undervalued in the NFL Top 100. It blows my mind that someone rated the top player at his position does not even crack the top 75 in the league. Hell, I can’t name a single offensive lineman more valuable than Yanda at the moment. Then, if you keep going down the list, you find a few names that make you scratch your head.
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What might be the biggest joke of the list so far is the fact that Matt Ryan was ranked No. 77 on the list, 20 spots ahead of Flacco. Ryan finished the 2014 season with more passing yards (4,694) and touchdowns (28) than Flacco (3,986 yards and 27 touchdowns), but Flacco’s team finished with a 10-6 record compared to a 6-10 record for the Atlanta Falcons. Also, the last I checked, Flacco consistently makes the playoffs and has the championship to his name. Ryan cannot make that same statement.
It will be interesting to see if any other Raven makes the select group. Elvis Dumervil is a candidate coming off a season with 17 sacks, but that could be the end of players from Baltimore to make the list. John Harbaugh and the rest of the Ravens organization know they are better than whatever some list says about them. They prove that to us year after year.
Offensive lineman typically don’t get a lot of coverage. They are the unsung heroes on football. Hopefully that the next time we write about Yanda, it’s because he has signed his new deal.