NEIL CORNRICH & NC SPORTS: MANAGING THE CAREERS OF PROFESSIONALS IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY

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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Marshal Yanda named to the Grantland All-Pro Team





From Bill Barnwell's "The Grantland All-Pro Team"

December 23, 2014

Guard

Josh Sitton, Green Bay Packers

Marshal Yanda, Baltimore Ravens

Sitton is a reasonable candidate to be considered the most underrated player in all of football. The 2008 fourth-rounder has made only one Pro Bowl and doesn’t ever get discussed as one of Ted Thompson’s best draft picks, but Sitton consistently stands out as the best player on the league’s sixth-best run-blocking offensive line. STATS has him down for just three penalties and zero sacks this season.

Yanda teams with Kelechi Osemele to form what might be the best tandem of guards in football right now. Baltimore has totally turned its running game around this season, as a team that averaged just 3.1 yards per carry during a dismal campaign last year is now up to 4.5 yards per rush, the seventh-best rate in football. Baltimore basically punted at right tackle this offseason and gave the job to 2013 fifth-rounder Ricky Wagner, but Yanda has been good enough at guard to solidify that side and make Wagner’s job all that much easier.

Second Team: David DeCastro, Steelers; Zack Martin, Cowboys

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