Jaguars Draft: What Texas' Kelvin Banks Jr. Brings to the Table

When the Jacksonville Jaguars made their free agency acquisitions, they landed key players at multiple areas of need on offense, including offensive tackle depth, and new starters at center and right guard.

After an active start to the league calendar year, the Jaguars have been quiet with a couple of signings here and there.

In this year's NFL Draft, Jacksonville has a chance to add more competition to their tackle room and potentially their interior offensive line group. The buck won't stop with the signings they've made and it should not keep them from acquiring the best talents available throughout the draft, including at tackle.

Texas Longhorns offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. could be a possible trade down option for the Jaguars. As a former five-star recruit, Banks won multiple awards in 2024, including the Outland and Lombardi Trophies in addition to being an unanimous All-American.

The underclassman was first team All-SEC and Big 12 the last two years, respectively, and second-team All-Big 12 in his freshman season, establishing himself as one of the most accomplished offensive linemen in recent college football memory.

With this in mind, let's look at what Banks could bring to the table at the professional level.

Strengths

The first thing that pops up on tape is Banks' quality size, frame and overall length at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds with 33-inch arms. He offers an effective first-step out of stance to reach defenders quickly and get hands on. His movement skills are also efficient and above-average, especially when working downhill as a potential puller or working to the second level.

Banks' functional movement ability allows him to effectively mirror rushes and race them up the arc in pass sets. There's good independent hand usage here to swipe away defenders moves at the point of attack, and his power and knockback ability at quite potent. This allows him to also be a quality run blocker.

In this phase, Banks shows great power at the point and when he gets his hands on, he will drive defenders into the dirt and sometimes flat-out demolish them in space to exploit the second or third level of a defense on the way to a potential explosive play.

Weaknesses

There is some talk of Banks moving to guard at the next level if he is not successful early as a starting left tackle. He has a tendency to lunge forward and compromise his base in both pass sets and in the run game. His length is also a talking point, with it being just average overall.

Teams with thresholds for arm length over 33 inches may struggle to put Banks on the edge where his grip strength is also a work in progress. While he does display independency with his hands, he has moments of rough misses in his strikes.

Arm length will likely be the biggest talking amongst NFL teams leading up to the draft. Banks is likely a first-round investment and a team must consider the risks before making a franchise-altering decision.

How Banks projects to the NFL

Banks looks to be a scheme-diverse offensive lineman who should start his career at left tackle before trying out at guard if all else fails. He showcases the movement skills, frame, power, and hand usage to be an effective starter early in his career. Once again, the question will remain if a team views him more as a starting guard than a tackle.

In Jacksonville, Banks would be in a perfect spot to help foster and grow as a player while keeping the left tackle spot competitive and potentially being a spot starter at left guard. He fits head coach Liam Coen's blocking scheme very well and would be a future starter within the offense.

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