Fittingly, Marshal Yanda Helped Guide Kevin Zeitler to Ravens
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens never fully recovered when offensive lineman Marshal Yanda decided to retire after the 2019 season.
The team hopes the addition of Kevin Zeitler will help fill the void at right guard. Yanda played a key role in helping Baltimore find his successor.
“During the process, my agent reached out and said, ‘Hey, Marshal Yanda gave [me] the Ravens’ number and gave me his number and told you to call him,.’ Zeitler said. " So, basically, he said, ‘Hey, reach out if you have questions.’ So, during the process, I gave him a call. He gave a glowing review of the Ravens and how it’s great to be an O-lineman there. So, it was a nice selling factor to hear it from his point of view. It was great.”
Days after being released by the Giants, Zeitler inked a three-year $22 million deal with Baltimore.
Zeitler brings experience to the Ravens offensive line as a nine-year NFL veteran. He has played in 135 games (134 starts) for Cincinnati Bengals (2012-17), Cleveland Browns (2017-18) and the Giants (2019-20). He also started all four playoff games in which he appeared with the Bengals.
Zeitler is also durable and has missed only nine games throughout his nine-year NFL career, competing in more than 90 percent of his team’s offensive snaps in seven of nine seasons. He has started all 16 games in six of his NFL campaigns, including five of the past six seasons.
Zeitler is looking forward to boosing the Ravens running attack, which ranked first in the NFL in each of the past two seasons.
"Every O-lineman you ask, ‘Hey, what do you want to do?’ They all want to be run blocking because that usually means you have the lead, or you’re controlling the game or dominating upfront," he said. "The Ravens have established that that’s what they’re going to do, and I have a hard time believing they’re going to change that up now.”
Zeitler is also looking forward to being a teammate of quarterback Lamar Jackson as opposed to being on the wrong side of his dynamic plays.
“I’m pretty excited. After going against him many times and losing many times, I’m very excited for him to be on my side this time," Zeitler said. "The things he can do at any given time, I mean … I really don’t know if there’s a player in the NFL that can do it like him. There definitely isn’t, and that’s exciting. It’s a really cool opportunity to work with that.”
