When the Baltimore Ravens extended Ronnie Stanley, they thought they were getting one of the best left tackles in the NFL for the prime of his career. So far, that has not come to fruition. He suffered an ankle injury in 2020 that caused him to miss about ten games. Stanley tried to return in 2021 but suffered another season-ending injury after suiting up for just one game.
Are Baltimore Ravens about to get the Ronnie Stanley of old?
Stanley missed some time in 2022 as he slowly was eased back into playing action, considering all the time he missed. So, from 2020-2022 when the Ravens thought they were getting his best, they hardly saw him play at all.
The good news is that Stanley finished the 2022 season healthy, something he cannot say about 2020 or 2021. This means that Stanley will not be rehabbing anything this offseason and instead will be working to get better for the first time since 2019. Stanley himself sees this as a huge win.
"The majority of my time the past couple of years has been spent on rehab — 80% of that offseason time, probably, and 20% on training. So, I’ve been able to really put most of my time on training and building and getting stronger, getting more endurance. And just becoming an overall better athlete has been a big difference for me. This is as good as I’ve felt since 2019, preseason 2020"Ronnie Stanley
That is an important quote for Baltimore Ravens fans. It shows that Stanley knows how frustrating the past few years have been, and he knows why that is the issue. He has been trying just to get back on the field in recent years. This has taken away all of the time he would have been able to use to get better.
Now, Stanley will enter 2023 healthy but also coming off of his best off-season in over three years. This could lead to him getting his swagger back and being trusted as one of the best tackles in the NFL. If anything, the conditioning he will gain this offseason should be enough to prevent the chances of a re-injury.
Even if Stanley is just good and gets through the season healthy, that is a win. So, Ronnie Stanley is not out of the water yet, but things are trending much better than in the past three seasons. Will we see the best and healthiest of Stanley in 2023?