Kelvin Banks, a 3-year starter at left tackle for the Texas Longhorns, is a big reason why Texas is back in the National Championship picture. The blindside anchor for star Texas QB, Quinn Ewers, is a 2-time, All Big-12 selection and a 2nd team All-American with his eyes set on another appearance in the college football playoffs in Texas’ first year in the SEC.
Kelvin Banks was a 5-star recruit from Humble, Texas in the class of 2022 who committed to play for Texas’ premier in state team on December 11th, 2021. Banks was originally committed to the University of Oregon before decommitting just 5 days before deciding to stay home and attend Texas. The #30 player in the class of 2022 had offers from 25 schools coming out of high school.
2024 will be Kelvin Banks’ 3rd year as the starting left tackle and behind him and a talented offensive line Texas has real aspirations to win the SEC and compete for a National Championship after falling short in 2023. A retooled Texas offense should produce an extremely hard offensive attack to stop and with Banks anchoring the offensive line Quinn Ewers should have all the time in the world to dice up opposing defenses.
Player Info
Name: Kelvin Banks
Jersey: No. 78
Position: Offensive tackle
School: University of Texas
Class: Junior
Height: 6-4
Weight: 320 lbs.
Kelvin Banks’ Strengths
Kelvin Banks’ biggest strengths all stem from his elite athletic and strength profile. Banks is very quick off the ball in the run game and when kick sliding in pass protection. He has great power and grip strength when he shots his hands against pass rushers.
When he gets his hands in position he doesn’t get beat by edge rushers working moves, his grip doesn’t allow for pass rushers to knock his arms away and shed his blocks. Banks shows a good anchor in pass pro, when facing power he rarely is at a strength disadvantage. In the run Banks’ athleticism is on full display.
He’s quick to his assignment, quick off the ball and uses his athletic ability to get positioning on defenders and create a hole behind him. In run blocking players are coached to get their butt to the hole where the run is going and Banks is great at that.
His athleticism allows him to look very comfortable in zone schemes when blocking in space or climbing to the second level. He’s also a very quick and natural puller when asked to pull from the tackle position.
Kelvin Banks’ Weaknesses
Banks biggest weakness is his inconsistent balance from time to time. Banks tends to over extend in the run game which a lot of the time can be attributed to over aggressiveness.
He knows he’s an extremely powerful player and very quick and can ruin an opponents day with a block but sometimes he needs to scale it back a notch and get to his assignment before trying to take someone’s head off. In pass protection he can lean forward too much and get dragged forward or stand up too high and get maneuvered by defenders.
His technical inconsistencies have definitely become less common in 2024 in comparison to 2023 but they are still present. On a physical side, Banks has all the power and athleticism to play tackle but at 6-4 he is a shorter offensive tackle which can be a sign of shorter arm length as well.
We will need to wait for the combine to get his official measurables to confirm if they are an issue or not. I personally think he will be fine in terms of physical traits but we will see come combine weekend.
Draft Projection
Banks definitely has some things still to work on in terms of being a true technician at offensive tackle but his athleticism and raw power accompanied with his flashes of great technique should make Banks a certified top 15 pick and a top 3 offensive tackle off the board.
Banks was my pre-season OT2 and the #4 player on my board and after the first half of 2024 it doesn’t seem like his positioning will change much.
Banks will be a high pick come April and rightfully so, the only thing that could really hurt him is the numbers on paper after combine measurements become official.
