Jimmy’s Famous Seafood’s Big Crab Cake: Week 7

Back on October 30, 2020, literally two days after signing a lucrative five-year deal with the Ravens, nearly eclipsing the $100M plateau, Ronnie Stanley was injured – his ankle was fractured and dislocated. Ligaments were shredded. It was the beginning of a downward spiral in his decorated career.

Over the course of the following two seasons, Stanley would play just 1 game in 2021 and eleven in 2022. And he didn’t play all that well. The man wearing No. 79 for the Baltimore Ravens was a mere shadow of his former self.

Criticisms were hurled his way. Other nagging injuries reared their ugly heads. The Ravens were paying for an All-Pro tackle who played like a struggling undrafted free agent. Most thought that he never would return to the form that earned him that big contract to begin with. The handwriting was on the wall. Stanley would have to take a significant pay cut or take his chances with another team.

Who knows how the conversations between Stanley, his agent and GM Eric DeCosta went but from the way Ronnie has bounced back in 2024, those discussions had to have been honest, heartfelt and clearly productive. Stanley opted to stick it out with the devil he knows – to swallow the humble pie that accompanies a slash in earnings yet approach the job with the same gusto that he did five years prior.

Stanley was a regular and full participant throughout training camp. He took no short cuts. He didn’t rest on his resume but instead aimed to improve it. He accepted the precipitous drop in pay while elevating his level of play to that which we all appreciated prior to the injury in 2020. And once again, Ronnie is the anchor of the Ravens offensive front.

That front was much maligned during the Ravens first two games in 2024. But the group put in the work, invested the sweat equity and overcame the early season setbacks. They’ve meshed as a unit and they are abundantly, yet quietly responsible for the Ravens No. 1 ranked offense. And we can thank in large part, Stanley’s fresh new outlook on his job, his commitment to excellence and his leadership for the positive developments in the Ravens’ offensive line play.

Ronnie Stanley is the Ravens Week 7 Jimmy’s Famous Seafood’s Big Crab Cake recipient.

[Related Article: The Good, Bad & Ugly From Ravens at Bucs]

The post Jimmy’s Famous Seafood’s Big Crab Cake: Week 7 appeared first on Russell Street Report.