Baltimore Ravens: Losing Marshal Yanda could derail offense
The Baltimore Ravens will be without star guard Marshal Yanda for the rest of the 2017 season, which could limit their offense moving forward.
No one doubted that the Baltimore Ravens would be an elite defensive team in 2017. Even if you throw out their track record of always being above average on that side of the ball, they added more talent this offseason to further solidify that group. However, there were warranted questions about Baltimore’s offense entering the season, specifically in terms of their weapons.
Those questions haven’t seemed entirely misplaced through the first two weeks of the campaign, but the Ravens have performed better than many expected on that side of the Ball. Joe Flacco has found success with Jeremy Maclin as a new wrinkle in the offense and with Benjamin Watson stepping up in place of the now-departed Dennis Pitta. What’s more, Buck Allen and Terrance West have stepped up to be solid commodities in the running game.
A big factor in their success on that side of the ball, though, has come down to their offensive line. While the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns — their two opponents thus far — don’t strike immediate fear with their defensive fronts, the Ravens line has still performed quite well. According to Pro Football Focus Edge, three of their starting linemen have graded as top-10 players at their positions through the first two weeks.
However, they’ll be moving forward without the best of the bunch: offensive guard Marshal Yanda.
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The veteran guard went down with an ankle injury in the Week 2 victory over the Browns. After the game, it was announced that the Ravens stalwart up front will miss the remainder of the season. Put frankly, that could have a profound effect on the play of the Baltimore offensive line as a whole.
Yanda is and has been the guiding, steady force up front for the Ravens offense. Last season, despite the team’s shortcomings on that side of the ball, his performance was unbelievable, particularly in pass protection. Per PFF Elite, Yanda played 572 pass blocking snaps in the 2016 season. He allowed only six pressures, while he didn’t allow a single sack or quarterback hit. That’s absurd — and he’s even better as a run blocker by trade.
Another big concern for the Ravens offense entering the season was changes on the offensive line. Baltimore lost Alex Lewis, the starter at guard opposite Yanda, to a shoulder injury while also seeing rookie guard Nico Siragusa get injured as well. Throw in center John Urschel’s retirement as well, and there was a chance that a lack of continuity could negatively affect this unit.
However, the argument could be made that Yanda was the glue in the middle that kept them together before he went down in Week 2. Now without him, they’ll start Tony Bergstrom and James Hurst at the guard spots. Playing inside of rookie Ronnie Stanley, who has been decidedly mediocre in 2017 thus far, and new addition Austin Howard, there is the potential for this unit to take an immediate step back.
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Perhaps that step back isn’t substantial and the Ravens offense is still able to perform well enough to win on the strength of their defense. That’s entirely possible, but it’s also a precarious situation that could really tilt either way as they sit in purgatory not know how greatly this will derail the offense, if at all. As they face a talented Jacksonville Jaguars front in Week 3, however, we’ll soon find out.