The Baltimore Ravens enter this season with an abundance of question marks on their offensive line.
Chief among them is the health of left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who is one of only two starters returning for the Ravens in the trenches on offense. Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum is the other returning starter.
With the uncertainty surrounding both Baltimore’s offensive line and Stanley’s health, he was listed as an X-Factor for the Ravens this season by ESPN’s Ben Solak.
“With their young players already called into starting roles, they don’t have the infrastructure to endure another in-and-out season from Stanley,” Solak writes. “If he returns to a solid imitation of his previous form, it will allow the Ravens to spend more time and resources protecting the rest of the line and experimenting with combinations that might work for the playoffs.”
In the Ravens’ latest depth chart, they had Andrew Vorhees starting at left guard, Daniel Faalele starting at right guard and Patrick Mekari starting at right tackle. Mekari boasts the most experience of the new starters having started 36 games and appearing in 71 for the Ravens.
Injuries have plagued Stanley, who has made the Pro Bowl and was a First-Team All-Pro in 2019. Since then, ankle and knee injuries have limited him to just 31 games in the regular season over the last four years.
Stanley, 30, may be trending in the right direction after starting 13 games last season, his most since 2019, though, his performance wasn’t at the elite level it was when the former All-Pro was at his peak. Pro Football Focus graded Stanley at 64.9, his worst mark in a full season of play. PFF also credited him with four sacks allowed, the most of his career.
If the Ravens are going to carry over their success on offense from last season, they’ll need their reworked offensive line to click sooner rather than later. That starts with protecting quarterback and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson’s blindside.
If Stanley can be a solid left tackle, it’s one less thing for Baltimore to worry about. But if he has more injury troubles or it’s clear the injuries have taken their toll, then it’s one more problem the Ravens will have to solve this season.
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