Ronald Darby (born January 2, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders. A world-class sprinter during his high school years, Darby won medals at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics.
High school career
Darby attended Potomac High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where he played as many as six different positions on offense, defense, and special teams. Excelling on defense, Darby was part of a Wolverines' secondary that also included Tavon Young, and which registered four shutouts and allowed just 82 points in 2011. Darby was a USA Today and Sports Illustrated High School All-American in 2011, and participated in the 2012 Under Armour All-American Game. as a junior, rushed for 1,329 yards and 23 touchdowns, while tallying three interceptions and eight pass breakups on defense.
Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Darby, running a 4.37-second 40-yard dash, was ranked as the No. 2 cornerback prospect in his class, behind only Tracy Howard. He chose Florida State over Notre Dame, Maryland, Clemson and Auburn.
Darby won a bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics. He also finished fourth in the 100 m. Along with Aldrich Bailey, Najee Glass, and Arman Hall, he ran a World Youth Best in the meet's medley relay.
His personal bests are 6.77 seconds in the 60 meters, 10.41 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.05 seconds in the 200 meters.
College career
As a true freshman at Florida State, Darby was part of a Florida State defense that led the ACC in points allowed (15.1 per game) and yards allowed (253.8). They ranked seventh in the FBS. Additionally, Darby was a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity while attending Florida State University. Although exclusively a back-up to Xavier Rhodes and Nick Waisome, Darby registered 18 tackles and broke up seven passes in 2012, which earned him ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Darby was also named Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America. In the 2013 Orange Bowl vs. Northern Illinois, Darby registered four solo tackles and one defended pass. As a sophomore, he played in 14 games with nine starts, including playing in, and winning the 2013 BCS National Championship game. For the season he had 14 tackles and two interceptions. As a junior in 2014, he started all 14 games and recorded 43 tackles. He was in pike.
After his junior season, Darby entered the 2015 NFL Draft.
Professional career
Coming out of Florida State, Darby was projected to be selected in the second or third rounds by the majority of analysts and scouts. With a deep cornerback draft class, Darby was considered the second-best cornerback coming out of Florida State behind P. J. Williams. He was invited to the NFL Combine and was able to raise his draft stock after finishing with good times in the 40, 20, and 10-yard dash. Darby participated at Florida State's Pro Day, but was satisfied with his combine performance and only performed positional drills. He had scheduled visits with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets. Going into the 2015 NFL Draft, he was ranked the third-best cornerback by Lance Zierlein, the sixth-best cornerback by Sports Illustrated, and the seventh-best by NFLDraftScout.com.
Buffalo Bills
2015
The Buffalo Bills selected Darby in the second round (50th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the seventh cornerback drafted and one of ten players from Florida State to be selected. On May 19, 2015, Darby signed his four-year rookie contract with the team, worth 4.56 million. After competing with Stephon Gilmore, Corey Graham, Ross Cockrell, Nickell Robey, and Ron Brooks throughout training camp, Darby was named a starting cornerback, opposite Gilmore, to begin the regular season.