Key stat highlights second-half jump from Saints LT Kelvin Banks Jr.

Across the NFL landscape, it has become abundantly obvious that teams have started to focus a bit more on offensive line talent, with many of the best teams around the league having a well-above-average line. With Kellen Moore coming over to the New Orleans Saints, seeing what the Philadelphia Eagles were able to do with a strong line, he brought in Kelvin Banks Jr. and David Edwards in back-to-back offseasons to grow that unit rapidly.

The former of the two had an outstanding rookie season in 2025, highlighted by a second half that rivaled some of the best tackles in the game. This is exactly what Moore was looking for in pairing him and Taliese Fuaga, as it creates a pair that can hold down the corners of the line for years to come. That second-half rise from Banks was intriguing, as there were not many metrics that could really prove it other than the eye test.

However, recently, in an ESPN article regarding draft trade ideas by Bill Barnwell, a statistic was mentioned that denotes this improvement. Specifically, he mentioned quick pressure rate and the over four percent change from the first to the second half of the season: "Kelvin Banks Jr. improved massively as a pass blocker, as his quick pressure rate improved from 5.8% over the first half of the year to 1.4% afterward."

While this metric is not listed specifically by various sites such as Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, and NFL Next Gen Stats, it is something that has come up in discussions before. By definition, a quick pressure is any pressure occurring within 2.5 seconds of the snap. So, this four percent improvement notes that Banks, in 533 snaps during the second half of the year, was only allowing rushers to pressure rapidly on 1.4% of snaps (approximately seven snaps).