Ravens' First-Round Pick Named Bounce-Back Candidate

The Baltimore Ravens are going to need all of their players to step up in 2025 if they hope to contend for a Super Bowl, and that includes players who have disappointed as of late.

Offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, the Ravens' first-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, is one of those players as he has struggled to stay healthy over the past few years. However, many believe he is in store for a bounce-back season.

"Stanley appeared in all 19 games (17 in regular season, 2 in playoffs) and reached his second career Pro Bowl as a member of the AFC North-leading Ravens, but he fell off in favor of new entry Dion Dawkins of the Bills (No. 8)," ESPN writes. "A second straight healthy year — Stanley played in every game for the first time in his nine-year career, could get the 31-year-old Stanley back on the list."

The Ravens paid Stanley this offseason with the belief he is going to do just that. In March, they signed him to a three-year, $60 million contract.

Stanley's injury concerns aren't going anywhere at 31, but he's focused on doing his best to put them behind him.

"I’ll never forget that feeling of everybody looking at me like: 'Damn, Ronnie, you got the bag and now you’re getting surgery, huh? Do you really need it? Can’t you just play through this?'" Stanley said. "The narrative was basically: This dude can’t fight through the pain. He doesn’t love the game like that. He just wants to get the money and run." 

Stanley's first major injury came in 2020, when he was carted off the field with an ankle injury during a Week 8 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He returned for the season opener in 2021, but that would be the only game he played that season, as suffered another severe ankle injury.

He then tried to rehab the injury naturally for about six weeks, but eventually made the difficult decision to have his second surgery in as many years.

Luckily, Stanley's healthy seems to have finally turned a corner. He played all 17 games for the first time in his career last season.

Baltimore is hoping he can return to his Pro Bowl level this season as quarterback Lamar Jackson's blindside blocker.