Husky Roster Review: Banks In Recovery In Multiple Ways
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For 15 spring practices, Davon Banks tried his best to blend in and keep pace with the newcomers and the holdovers in the University of Washington cornerback competition.
He went from wearing a yellow injury vest to tucking it in the back of his pants, as if to suggest he was ready to resume at full speed at any time.
Yet Banks, who suffered an unspecified season-ending injury last fall, was under doctor's orders that his participation would be strictly limited throughout the spring. Often he was down on one knee, watching contact drills.
It had to be tough for him, especially with the host of new corners brought in to, in essence, take the job away from him.
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Banks, who wears No. 6 on defense, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
The 5-foot-11, 182-pound Banks played in eight games as a redshirt freshman in 2022, starting against Stanford and California. He came up with one of the two Husky cornerback interceptions during the season, making a diving sideline theft against Arizona State.
That was the upside. Unfortunately, a downside wasn't far off either.
In his lowest point, Banks got absolutely turned around in the end zone by ASU receiver Elijah Badger and he permitted a game-deciding, 2-yard touchdown pass to the Sun Devil in the fourth quarter of a 45-38 defeat.
Co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, however, said he wasn't all that concerned by what happened in the past or that any of his victimized cornerbacks would have lasting scars. The in-house competition would take care of that.
"If they can come out there and compete at a high level against Jalen McMillan or Rome Odunze, versus Mike Penix, that's something that gives those guys confidence," Morrell said. "When you're having some success against arguably the top guys in the country, in the conference for sure, but in the country alone, I think competing against that talent on a daily basis build confidence."
During the severe Husky program downturn of 2021, the speedy Banks was one of the few positive developments when he drew four game appearances while most freshmen sat idle.
With a new coaching staff, his success carried over into spring practice for Kalen DeBoer's staff where he was a scrimmage standout coming up with multiple interceptions.
Once the season began, however, Banks was handed most likely a little more responsibility than he was ready to handle. Both starting corners in Jordan Perryman and Mishael Powell were forced out of the lineup with injuries before Banks joined them on the sideline.
The California native finds himself in recovery on multiple fronts, healing both his body and his confidence level, while holding a favorable prognosis, based on his youth, for bouncing back.
DAVON BANKS FILE
Service: Banks has played in 12 career games, the first eight last fall before he was ruled out for the season with his undisclosed injury.
Stats: He has 18 career tackles, 5 coming last season against California, a road outing in which he started and also was selected as the UW special-teams player of the game. On his personal ledger, he has 2 pass break-ups, the interception against ASU and a forced fumble when he notably crashed into a Michigan State player on a kickoff return.
Role: With his spring restrictions limiting him, Banks no doubt has fallen behind the others in what is now a much more intense competition at his position. Yet he has a propensity for making the big play and he's still just a sophomore, with the ability to work his way back to meaningful snaps.
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