Baltimore Ravens may have studied OT Ronnie Stanley better than anyone else

I have to admit, when the Baltimore Ravens selected offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, I didn't mind the pick, but he certainly wasn't my first choice. I felt like the Ravens had more pressing needs addressing the defensive side of the ball.

However, after looking at what Stanley brings to the table, he not only looks impressive, but he looks more prepared to play at the NFL level than offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil who has been regarded by some to be the best player overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Yesterday, a buddy of mine on Twitter sent me a well-written analysis of Stanley by retired NFL defensive end Stephen White. If you love the Ravens, you need to check out this link. White provided the analysis of Stanley in a way only a player on the field could. Over time, I began to like the pick, but after reading what White said about Stanley, I'm even more excited about the selection than ever before.

The biggest thing that White wrote about Stanley that stood out to me was the fact that he said that Tunsil is a better athlete than Stanley. However, White went on to say that Stanley is more prepared to face edge rushers in the NFL than Tunsil is.

This is what White said about Tunsil:

In this era of zone read and read option offenses, like the one Tunsil played in at Ole Miss, you may get to see how athletic an offensive linemen is, but you usually won't get to see him actually make the kinds of blocks that he'll be called upon to make in the NFL.

That's especially true when it comes how players look pass blocking. It's not so much that Tunsil was a bad pass blocker -- if you read my breakdown you know he was actually pretty good at it -- but I just didn't get to see him block an edge rusher one-on-one enough in four games to be truly comfortable with my assessment of how good or bad he was doing it. What I do know is that in those limited opportunities Tunsil definitely got beat pretty badly twice on speed rushes, enough that those plays keep nagging at me even with all the other good things I saw from him on film.

Now read what White said about Stanley:

With Stanley not only did I actually get to see him out on an island blocking edge rushers one-on-one in every game, I also saw him lock those guys down game after game after game. He faced speed rushers, power rushers, little rushers, big rushers or some combination of those attributes and the results were almost always the same: little to no pressure.

What makes Stanley so effective is the fact that his arms are almost 36 inches long. He also has really good, quick feet to go with them. His punch isn't necessarily all that powerful, but it is damned effective for two reasons: First, his arms are so long that they usually get to a pass rusher's chest quicker than they're used to; and, second, once he gets his hands on a guy and fully extends his arms, it's hard for the rusher to be able to reach out and get 'em off because their arms are likely much shorter.

This is a great insight into the mind of a former NFL pass rusher. I think the Ravens may have hit the jackpot when it comes to Stanley and I don't doubt for a second that this is what the Ravens were talking about when the organization spoke out after the draft and said that Stanley was rated higher on its draft board than Tunsil.