Background

Caleb Banks grew up in the Detroit area and attended Southfield A&T High School. He was a self-described basketball player who only tried football at his family's insistence after they pointed out his enormous frame and told him he was crazy for not using it, a decision he has since called the best of his life. As a senior, he recorded 42 tackles, 12.0 TFL, and 3.0 sacks as a nose tackle, earning All-State and All-Conference honors. A consensus three-star prospect ranked outside the top 900 nationally, he originally committed to Arizona State before flipping to Louisville, where he redshirted in 2021 and played sparingly in 2022 before entering the transfer portal and signing with Florida. He immediately became a starter for the Gators and broke out in 2024 with 21 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 4.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles while leading the defense with 28 pressures and a 20% pass-rush win rate. For 2025, he returned, but a foot injury limited him to three games before he needed surgery. He earned his bachelor's degree in education sciences from Florida, made the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll twice, and declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Physical Attributes

RAS:

Good news, bad news. He did this all on a broken foot. This was the third time he had broken his foot in the last year and a half. Banks is an insane athlete, but can his body handle it?

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my DT radar charts, you can find more information here

No way around it, that is not a good radar chart. Banks had obvious limitations this year because of his foot injuries, but here's a comparison to the previous year:

So, 2024, before these injuries, was much better, but still not great. Banks is a pure flash player; most of his tape is a tough watch. The pops on tape are real, but the fundamentals are all wrong.

His hand placement is weird. If he does not have a quick win, he struggles to affect the play. He loses his footing and leverage way more often than you would like to see. Every snap seems to come to him by the seat of his pants, with no discernible plan of what to do. Smaller OL completely clamp him down on run blocks and make him useless. He rarely wraps up and lets almost anyone through his arm tackles. There is too much of all of this on tape.

Those highs, though, they are high. One of my favorite plays was against Tennessee in 24 when he hit a right tackle with a club so hard off the snap, the right tackle fell over immediately. The quick wins occur very often. He displaces the offensive linemen a yard back off the line of scrimmage through sheer power. His feet are so quick for someone his size; it's hard to believe.

So what to do with all of this?

Grade and Outlook

Banks has the highest boom or bust potential in this draft. As a Sixers fan, I know that foot injuries for big guys can be healed, but it takes time and patience. And Banks will require plenty of patience, as he not only needs ample time to fully recover but also needs to learn the basics of the position. If he lands on the right team, who gives him a smart plan to follow and tons of organizational patience, they could have a perennial All-Pro on their hands. To the wrong franchise that tries to rush him in, and you might as well spend your pick on a punter.

Grade: 6.2 (Late 1st Rounder / Early 2nd Rounder)