Windy City Gridiron
The Texas offensive lineman could potentially play both tackle and guard in the NFL.
If there’s one thing the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory taught us, it’s that teams who dominate the trenches on both sides tend to win football games. Chicago Bears, take notes.
According to NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, the Bears will do just that in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The prominent draft analyst sent Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. to Chicago in his latest mock of the offseason, bolstering the team’s shaky offensive line in Ben Johnson’s first year as Bears head coach and Caleb Williams’ second as the team’s QB.
“The Bears need to devote their offseason to upgrading the group playing in front of Caleb Williams. Banks has the skill set to play tackle or guard,” Jeremiah writes.
Banks is currently slotted behind Will Campbell as No. 2 on most consensus offensive line rankings in this draft class, with NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein comparing him to the likes of Peter Skoronski and Christian Darrisaw — a prospect who should become a good starter within two years.
He’s plenty experienced as a three-year starter at left tackle for Texas and has gone against many top-tier college defenders, such as current Houston Texans star Will Anderson and Georgia’s Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker from this year’s class.
For those who love upside, he’s seemingly more athletic and might test better than Campbell in on-field movement drills.
But many analysts have the same issue with Banks as they do with Campbell as a potential solution at left tackle: they might project better as guards in the NFL. As such, some might argue Banks might not be worth the pick at No. 10 overall if he can’t potentially replace Braxton Jones as the LT of the future.
He’s also not as technically refined or as stout as Campbell, a similar issue to what Jones has dealt with early in his career. Flip on his film, and you’ll see examples of him getting walked back into the quarterback on occasion.
That said, the Bears need good, young offensive lineman at every position except right tackle (thank goodness for Darnell Wright), so Banks’ positional ambiguity matters a lot less. The most important thing: get competent bodies in front of Williams so that he can become the superstar he’s meant to be.
Moreover, arguably the defining feature of the Lions offense the past three seasons under Johnson was the offensive line, so it makes sense to think he and Ryan Poles would be in accord on building that unit up.
In all likelihood, Banks will be there at No. 10 overall if the Bears want to pull the trigger in April. Let’s see if he can impress the team in the meantime.
