Ravens' Ronnie Stanley Says NFL Singled Him Out With Illegal Formation Penalties

Stanley was flagged three times for illegal formation on Thursday night.

Baltimore Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley at the line of scrimmage during a 2023 regular season game. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley says NFL officials were trying to "make an example" out of him during the team's season-opening, 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Stanley was flagged three times for illegal formation on Thursday night, including two penalties on the Ravens' opening drive, and he feels that he was unfairly singled out by the league in an effort to crack down on the infraction.

"We knew that they were going to make a new emphasis on the illegal formations," Stanley said. "And we were talking to refs in OTAs actually. We got pretty good clarification. We were doing a good job in OTAs and all of a sudden today, the refs, whatever calls they made, it's their decision."

"it didn't feel consistent with what we were told from the refs earlier on."

Ronnie Stanley didn’t feel the officiating was consistent tonight, especially in application of illegal-formation calls. pic.twitter.com/RZIJxuQ5JD

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) September 6, 2024

Stanley's teammates Patrick Mekari and Rashod Bateman were each flagged once for illegal formation, but the Chiefs did not receive a penalty for the infraction. And that was not lost on Stanley.

"Second play of the game, first pass play of the game," Stanley said. "No warning before that. I thought it was a little different. The way it was going through the game, I really feel like they were trying to make an example and chose me to be the one to do that."

"As far as I saw, they weren't doing it on both sides of the ball. I know that I was lined up in good position a majority of those calls they made."

What is an illegal formation penalty in the NFL?

According to the league's rulebook, the offense must check the following three boxes when lining up for the snap:

"It must have seven or more players on the line, who may lock legs. Eligible receivers must be on both ends of the line, and all of the players on the line between them must be ineligible receivers. No player may be out of bounds."

What does this mean for offensive tackles?

An offensive tackle's helmet must break the waist line of the center to be considered lined up correctly. Last season, several offensive tackles, most notably Jawann Taylor of the Chiefs, took an extra step or two backwards to give themselves an advantage against a pass rusher.

But given the way officials called Thursday's game, tackles won't be allowed to do that anymore in 2024. It will certainly bear watching.