ExtremeRavens Posted June 12 Posted June 12 Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley was once a force of nature. Part Baryshnikov, part bulldozer, the 6-foot-6, 315-pound dancing bear helped pave the way for the NFL’s best rushing attack in 2019 while also protecting the blind side of quarterback Lamar Jackson, the league’s unanimous Most Valuable Player that season. Stanley was subsequently richly rewarded in the form of a five-year, $112.8 million contract, a deal befitting an All-Pro and perhaps the best player at his position, which coincides with also being one of the most important in the game. But that was before the injuries and struggles set in. A season-ending ankle injury in 2020 just two days after he signed that massive deal, another season-ending ankle surgery in October 2021. The sixth overall draft pick out of Notre Dame in 2016, Stanley hasn’t played a full season since 2019, appearing in just 34 of a possible 71 games, including the playoffs. The 13 regular-season contests he played in last season were the most since his breakout year, but he still missed four games because of a knee injury. Even when he was on the field, he was — at times — a shell of his former self, ranking 38th in pass block win rate (87.2%) among tackles in 2023. It’s why coach John Harbaugh rotated Stanley with Patrick Mekari down the stretch of last season and why his contract was restructured this offseason. The latter was needed to lessen the load on Baltimore’s limited salary cap space, but the message was clear, too. How else to explain a reported $7.5 million pay cut, according to Over the Cap, and an incentive-laden deal? Worse yet in Stanley’s eyes, though, was how he performed in 2023, injuries aside. “It was killing me,” he said Tuesday in Owings Mills on the first day of mandatory minicamp. “We may have been playing well, but it was really killing me on the inside knowing that I wasn’t playing to my potential. That’s something that’s hard for me to live with.” Examples were aplenty for the proud but struggling offensive lineman. In his return from a knee injury in a Week 5 loss against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, he allowed a sack and seven hurries, per Pro Football Focus. Four games later, in a win over the Seattle Seahawks, he gave up a strip-sack to outside linebacker Boye Mafe, who blew past him on his way to Jackson. Two games after that, Stanley committed two penalties and struggled with Los Angeles Chargers star edge rusher Khalil Mack, who racked up two sacks, and allowed six quarterback pressures. That prompted Harbaugh to say the next day that Stanley’s performance had “not been great” and that “I think he’d be the first person to tell you that it’s not been great.” There were other games where Stanley struggled, too, including against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns. But it wasn’t just that he was having a hard time dealing with some of the game’s best pass rushers. Stanley was flagged for 12 penalties in 13 games last season. Half of them were for false starts and three of them for holding; only Kansas City Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor was penalized more among offensive linemen. “We may have been playing well, but it was really killing me on the inside knowing that I wasn’t playing to my potential,” Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley said Tuesday of his performance last season. “That’s something that’s hard for me to live with.” (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Of course, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl — beating the Ravens in the AFC championship game to get there — so they could live with those penalties. The Ravens could not, which is why Stanley, 30, had to take a pay cut or face potentially being a salary cap cut. With both guard spots up for grabs as well as right tackle, the latter was unlikely to happen, but something had to give. Stanley also didn’t want his Ravens career to end on a such a sour note. “Baltimore is like a second home to me,” he said Tuesday. “Being here, going on my ninth year and missing a lot of time, if that was my last year it just wouldn’t really sit right with me. I would probably have some regret not leaving Baltimore on the note that I want to leave it on.” Which perhaps explains, at least in part, why the veteran was at each of the Ravens’ 10 voluntary organized team activities practices this offseason and why he has looked spry and spirited over the past month, even at one point catching a batted pass out of the air and spinning a few yards downfield past would-be tacklers. “Ronnie’s doing a good job,” Harbaugh said Tuesday. “He got in shape it looks like. He’s ready to go.” Baltimore will need him to be. After Jackson won his second NFL MVP Award last season and with the addition of two-time NFL rushing leader and four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry, the Ravens are again among the favorites to get to the Super Bowl. They also need Stanley’s experience, and talent, up front given the uncertainty surrounding much of the rest of the line. “I love Ronnie,” Harbaugh said. “I love who he is, his personality. I also love what he’s capable of doing on the football field. “You go by what you see as a coach, as Bill Parcells said, not what you remember. What I see from Ronnie is, he’s moving his feet, looks like he’s got a good anchor. Obviously having a talented left tackle playing at a high level would be really good for us.” And good for Stanley, who a few weeks before restructuring his contract unwound from a tough season with a trip to Machu Picchu with teammate Roquan Smith. “I feel good,” Stanley said. “I’m coming out of practice still having energy, still upbeat. “There’s zero doubt in my head if I’m playing the way I need to be playing, to my standard, I’m the best tackle — in my head.” All that’s left to do is show it on the field. View the full article Quote
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