Bear Digest

NFL insider has Kelvin Banks Jr. as most realistic Bears option

Texas' left tackle has been a pick rated from ninth through 16th on mock draft big boards and one NFL insider sees him as a viable Bears alternative if they can't draft elite playmakers.
Gene Chamberlain|
Kelvin Banks from Texas is a pure left tackle who could be of interest to the Bears in Round 1 according to draft insiders.
Kelvin Banks from Texas is a pure left tackle who could be of interest to the Bears in Round 1 according to draft insiders. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

One of the names showing up more often now for the Bears in mock drafts at No. 10 overall is offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. from Texas.

It's a player Bears beat columnist Brad Biggs mock-drafted to the Bears and he also is currently the name most often given to the Bears at NFL Mock Draft Data Base on the 1,274 mock drafts they've followed.

It's hardly a consensus as only 12% of mocks name Banks for the Bears, the lowest percentage for any of the first 27 picks in Round 1.

Banks has been lurking in those rankings between ninth and 15th overall since the start of this year.

Now another NFL insider has pointed toward Banks as a potential Bears pick at No. 10. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, in his letters column, sees Banks as a good alternative if some of the players who might be rated higher are gone in this draft.

In answering a reader question about the Bears' pick, Breer says the thought defensive tackle Mason Graham or running back Ashton Jeanty might be available at No. 10 for Chicago GM Ryan Poles to take is unlikely.

"But if Mason Graham and Ashton Jeanty are gone, I'm not sure there's a guy at either of those (positions) worthy of going at 10," Breer wrote. "So that leads you back to ... the offensive line."

Breer called it an option even if it is for depth.

"Yes, the Bears dealt for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signed center Drew Dalman," Breer wrote. "But left tackle Braxton Jones, a nice find for the Bears in the fifth round in 2022, is heading into a contract year and has a new set of coaches evaluating him. If he’s not seen as the answer, tackle would be in play.

"That's why I think 10 is the floor for LSU’s Will Campbell, and could be a landing spot for Texas' Kelvin Banks Jr."

Banks, the 6-foot-5, 315-pounder, had a Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade in the top 10.1% of the nation's tackles. He allowed four sacks and four QB hits over the last three seasons. 

Banks is one of the more athletic tackles with a 5.16-second 40-yard dash and 32-inch vertical leap and has a problem similar to many of the other tackles in this draft with arms that are only 33 1/2 inches. The ideal length is seen as 34 inches.

But the big difference with him over many of the other top tackles expected to go in Round 1 is he has been only a left tackle. He played all 2,774 snaps he had at this position over the last three seasons.

Are the Bears looking for only a left tackle or someone with more position versatility? For this year, it might be tackle they need help at with only inexperienced Kiran Amegadjie, Joshua Miles and Theo Benedet. Miles has been on an NFL field for 23 offensive snaps since coming into he league in 2019 and Benedet is more well known for his eagle underwear from the HBO Hard Knocks episode featuring the Bears last year. He hasn't been in a game.

There will be plenty of resistance to the Bears drafting another tackle first at 10 and one reader asked Breer if it might be better for the Bears to trade up and try to get Jeanty fifth overall.

"Like I said earlier, Jeanty is on another tier," Breer wrote. "But worth trading up for? I’m not sure about that. I still get the sense he’s a cut below where Saquon Barkley, Zeke Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey were in their draft years.

"So I’m not sure I’d give up assets on top of the 10th pick to go get him."

Draft talent is truly in the eye of the beholder. No doubt there are plenty of NFL fans who think Barkley, Elliott and McCaffrey might have been players worth trading up five spots on Day 1 to select in their rookie year, based on what they've done in the league.

Apparently Breer does not see it this way and offers up Banks as an alternative.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.