The 2021 Ravens' Season Is On The Ropes As Ronnie Stanley May Miss Significant Time With An Injury

What a kick in the dick as we try to get ourselves off the mat from a tough Week 1 L. Ronnie Stanley's season-ending injury last year was the start of the mid-season spiral that sent the Ravens to the brink of missing the postseason. Even when they made it, they were severely hampered by a re-shuffled OL that ultimately played a huge part in the loss in Buffalo.

In the process, they gave Orlando Brown Jr the opportunity to play LT and prove to the league that he was more than capable of playing the position at a high level. Half the offseason was spent shopping him around and ultimately trading him to a conference rival, who happens to be coming to town this weekend.

Meanwhile, rumor has it as Ronnie Stanley was slowly rehabbing in the background, concerns continued to mount that the injury may have been worse than initially thought. He may have made it back for Week 1, but his performance on Monday night hardly suggested that he was at full strength. He continued to get pushed back into the pocket, where Lamar was constantly pressured from both edges. We all saw the result. Lamar played a hell of a game despite running for his life the entire time.

So now Ronnie goes and gets tested to see what's up with that left ankle.  Alejandro Villaneuva, who played a MISERABLE game at right tackle, is going to swing over to LT. Patrick Mekari, who has virtually no tackle experience and started a handful of games at center the last two years, will start at RT because our swing tackle Tyre Phillips tore his ACL on Monday night too. It's a fucking disaster.

What's most frustrating is that we were so set on the OL a year ago. All-Pro left tackle, Pro Bowl right tackle, both playing at a high level in their early to mid-20's. We locked the LT up to a 5-year, $98.75M deal (which in theory is the smart thing to do) and were set at RT for at least a couple of years, and maybe more if OBJ had grown content with the idea of playing RT long-term and signed a 2nd contract. Now one is gone and there's some long-term doubt for the other in the first year of a FAT 5-year contract. 

None of this is exactly ideal as you head into negotiations with your young franchise QB. His play will inevitably suffer as we try to make something of this 2021 season, which can potentially create a divide as the two sides determine Lamar's worth. Lamar can't feel overly confident in his long-term safety without some of these questions answered either. The whole thing is a clusterfuck. Not to sound overly pessimistic, but there's a chance we look back at Week 8 in 2020 and point at Ronnie's injury as the key moment that completely changed the trajectory of the franchise.

I still have faith in this coaching staff and front office to figure out some answers and turn this thing around. It's only 1 week, but holy hell do we have our work cut out for us. Results from Ronnie's tests will play a huge part in that. Even with all of the injuries, there's still a TON of talent on this roster and we have a chance in any game we play as long as #8 is out there. Tough to envision a scenario where we can pull out a W on Sunday against KC though. Opportunities to right the ship and get a few guys healthy (Nick Boyle, Rashod Bateman, and Jimmy Smith are names in this boat, and hopefully Ronnie too) present themselves with games at Detroit and Denver. Come out of Week 4 at 2-2 and Lamar in one piece and we've got a fighting chance with all of our division games in front of us. Anything less than that and it could be getting late early in Baltimore. 

For now, all we can do is hold our breath and hope for the best when it comes to Ronnie. I sure hope he's right.