He may have not been one of the top 10 rookies in Madden NFL 26, but Kelvin Banks Jr. looked the part of a top-10 draft pick in Sunday’s New Orleans Saints preseason opener. While he only logged 20 snaps against the Los Angeles Chargers, Banks was spotless on 12 reps in pass protection. He didn’t allow any quarterback pressures or draw a single penalty.
The only rookie offensive lineman who earned a higher Pro Football Focus grade in pass pro than Banks (84.9) was Esa Poe, an undrafted left tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs who received an 85.2 for his work against the Arizona Cardinals. Poe’s teammate Dalton Cooper ranked third with an 83.9, so that suggests Banks could have a favorable matchup waiting for him in September when the Cardinals visit New Orleans.
But back to Banks. This is all exactly what we needed to see out of him. Banks has been mostly solid this summer (except when matching up against Chase Young one-on-one at training camp), and he got off to a hot start this week. Now he needs to do it again next Sunday, and pretty much every following Sunday through January.
If there’s one area he could improve, it’s run blocking. His 46.9 grade ranked third-worst for New Orleans this week. The Saints used a zone blocking concept on six of his reps with just one play following gap-assignment concepts, so it’s obvious where Banks needs to focus on cleaning things up. If you’re curious, the Texas Longhorns ran out of zone and gap on a nearly-even split during his three years in the lineup, so it’s not like he’s inexperienced. He just needs to lock in what his coaches are teaching him. That’ll come with more reps.