Positives:
- Takes on Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Will Sutton (lol) 1-on-1 and pancakes him more than once
- Great goal-line/short-yardage pad level
- Comfortable in a power scheme, shows real skill when pulling and finding a second level defender. Clobbers his man most of the time he pulls. All of his big blocks come on these pulls.
- Really good at combo blocks (two linemen working together on one defender)
- Solid, if not eye-popping, across the board in pass protection. Good enough strength, very good awareness of where the pocket is
- Doesn't ever have two bad plays in a row
Negatives:
- Doesn't stick on run blocks at times, mostly because he gets a little too high up. Loses contact with his man and ends up on his butt.
- Not all that fast getting off the line of scrimmage
- Sometimes mishandles a 3-technique cutting across his face
- When you watch Yankey, you're mostly struck by how good the guy to his left is. Scouts are already saying that Andrus Peat is a top 3 pick in the 2015 draft, so that's a pretty high barometer.
Overall:
Yankey is a solid value across the board - he's not as physically incredible as some prospects in the draft, but as a guard he's pretty close to a plug-and-play player. He's probably a 2nd or 3rd round pick in total, but whoever drafts him will definitely be happy with his smarts and skill. He may have some trouble handing those beastly 3-techniques like Geno Atkins, but pretty much everybody struggles against freaks like that.
Want to check out more breakdowns of David Yankey's game? Watch his games against Michigan State, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC on DraftBreakdown.com.