Draft Review: Marshal Yanda

GOSSELIN DRAFT ANALYSIS: Yanda got off to a slow start to his career, playing his first two college seasons at North Iowa Area Community College before transferring to the University of Iowa. In his two seasons in the Big Ten, he started four games at left guard, 16 games at right tackle and five more at left tackle. He served as a captain as a senior in 2006 when he was voted the team’s offensive MVP and second-team All-Big Ten. Yanda measured 6-3 ½ and weighed 307 at the NFL scouting combine with 22 repetitions on the bench press. Gosselin rated him the sixth best guard in the 2007 draft and placed him #93 on his Top 100 board. The Baltimore Ravens selected him in the third round of the draft with the 86^th overall selection.

Here are the pre-draft comments from 16 NFL talent evaluators on Yanda:

Scout: Guard.

Personnel director: Rising (on the board) because of his coach (Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz), not his play.

Personnel director II: High fourth round.

Personnel director III: Sixth round.

Head coach: Fourth round. A captain, a leader and nasty…but just an average athlete. Good kid. He’ll come into this league and play a long time.

Head coach II: Fifth round.

General manager: Good player, just looks bad.

General manager II: He’s exploding for us on our board.

General manager III: Iowa offensive linemen play in this league. Project him as a guard. Tough and versatile.

General manager IV: Third round. Can come in and compete right away. Well-schooled at Iowa.

General manager V: Offensive tackle, third round.

General manager VI: Third/fourth round.

General manager VII: High fourth round as a tackle.

General manager VIII: A bleeder. Don’t overrate him – he’s a 4 (round).

General manager VIX: Fourth Round.

General manager VX: Fifth round.

HALL OF FAME RESUME: Yanda stepped into the lineup in the second month of his NFL career and started 12 games as a rookie at right tackle. He moved to right guard in his second season and went on to play 12 years there, starting 166 career games. Yanda made the first of six consecutive Pro Bowls in 2011 but saw his streak snapped in 2017 when he suffered a season-ending broken ankle in the second game. He returned to both the field and the Pro Bowl in 2018 and was voted to the Pro Bowl each of his final two seasons. Yanda won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2012 and was named to the NFL’s 2010s all-decade team. He was penalized only 11 times for holding in his 177 NFL games. This is his first-year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Rick Gosselin spent 20 years as the NFL columnist for the Dallas Morning News, including 20 offseasons studying and researching prospects for the NFL draft. He didn’t watch any tape – he was a writer, not a scout – but he talked to the men who did watch tape. He built a network of NFL general managers, head coaches, personnel directors, scouts and assistant coaches from all 32 teams who would share with him their analyses of players. Gosselin used their insights to build his own draft board, Top 100 board and mock drafts. For 10 consecutive years he had the best Top 100 board in the country (2001-10), according to the Huddle Report, and three times he produced the best mock draft. Gosselin resurrects his college scouting reports to see how NFL talent evaluators viewed the top draft prospects coming out of college.