**How Caleb Banks’ Unique Traits Could Form Custom Fit with Vikings**
The smiling didn’t end after Caleb Banks left the room.
Minnesota’s No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft walked out with his entourage of family just minutes prior, and then Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores walked in with a Banks’ sized smile covering his face.
“When you see a guy with this type of, kind of rare size, rare athleticism, you take a real hard look at him,” Flores told Twin Cities reporters before rattling off the types of exposure coaches and scouts had with Banks during the pre-draft process. “I think he’s got very high upside and excited to have him join our team, our defense, our locker room. And then just meeting him, he’s a great kid and I think he embodies a lot of the things that we’re looking for in a Viking. He’s smart. Football’s important to him; he wants to be a great teammate, so we felt very comfortable the whole way and really excited that we got him.
“Obviously, he’s got the foot [injury] and just my conversations with him already have been, ‘Let’s not worry about when we’re going to be back or starting or anything all the way down the road,” Flores continued, referencing Banks surgery on March 9. ” ‘Let’s take this one day at a time. Let’s string good days together and let’s see what it looks like at the end.’ And so I know there’s a lot of ‘Where do you see him playing?’ And, ‘When’s he going to be back?’ And my answer’s really going to be the same for him.”
Stack good days in a row. Get to know the system and the city. And earn a role like every other defender.
With all that in mind, “There aren’t very many guys who are 6-foot-6, 330 pounds, walking around playing d-line with this type of athleticism,” Flores said very matter-of-factly of the 23-year-old Detroit native who played at Louisville before transferring to Florida.
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Showing his outgoing personality right away, Banks asked a question before answering one.
“How are you guys doing?” he said politely and dressed to the nines in a gray suit with a white button down and black tie that hugged his broad shoulders snuggly, with a Vikings ball cap turned up and away from his forehead.
“First, I would just like to say, I just want to thank God for putting me in this position today, being in front of you guys, in front of Coach K.O. and everybody on the staff,” Banks said. “I appreciate you guys — the Wilf Family, Rob [Brzezinski]. I appreciate the opportunity. So, yeah, I just want to say thank you.”
Banks said he never fully bought into the idea he could become an NFL first-round pick “because you never know what could happen,” but he prayed for this moment and worked hard to make it possible.
In an alternate reality, Banks might have gone pro in another sport: basketball. At 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds now, it’s easy to imagine him carving out space in the paint. He grew up on the hardwood — he also used to skateboard, which is a wild visualization and probably is a story for another day — and wanted to be like his brothers — “them boys hoop,” he said, “that’s what they did” — but he realized “I can’t keep fouling out every game” and so Banks changed lanes to a sport suited for his competitiveness.
“It don’t matter what it is, you could play rock, paper, scissors right now — I’m going to win,” he quipped.
That want-to coupled with undeniably rare measurements are fixtures of Banks’ potential. His passion and power are two ginormous reasons why Minnesota selected him 18th overall. In summary, the franchise is banking on him hitting his ceiling, which may be as high as anyone picked this year, under the tutelage of Flores, Defensive Running Game Coordinator Ryan Nielsen and Assistant D-line Coach Pat Hill.
Hill worked extensively with Banks as the American Team DL coach at the Senior Bowl, and Banks recalled that Nielsen was the lone NFL DL coach who sat down with him in Gainesville after his pro day.
“That meant a lot to me,” Banks said, adding it proved, “They had a lot of interest in me, and they cared for me and they know I can be great someday. It was kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, I know where I want to be.’ “
As far as playing for Flo’, Banks is fired up about the opportunity.
“I know he got a motor to him, you know what I mean?” Banks said when he was asked about the heralded coordinator. “I could tell just how he walks; he ain’t going to BS, he’s going to get after you — he’s going to get after me. He’s going to make sure I’m giving everything that I’ve got. So, I can’t wait.”
The interest is mutual as Flo’ and Minnesota’s personnel department and coaching staff dove into the weeds to learn what makes Banks tick, how he handles constructive criticism, his love for the game, etc.
“We felt good about and feel good about Caleb, the type of person he is,” Flores shared. “And it’s not necessarily just our interactions with him — this vetting process, it’s a deep one. We’re going back and talking to coaches from all the way back to Louisville and you can kind of see the growth of a person just when he was 19 it was like this, when he was 20 it was like this, when he was 21 it was like this. … And I would say that’s probably more important than — you can’t fake that; it’s already happened, good, bad or whatever it is. And so yeah, we felt really comfortable with him from that standpoint. And then my personal interaction with him has been good. And as you guys know, I’m not afraid to ask hard questions. So, ‘Hey, what happened on this play, this play, this play? And he’s honest, ‘I’ve got to be better here. I’ve got to improve here. That was a good play, but I could have done this.’ And I think when I spent the time with him and just felt his overall football acumen, football IQ, understanding of what he needs to do — [that all] kind of speaks to the type of person he is as well.”
Former team linebacker and assistant coach Pete Bercich appeared Friday with “Voice of the Vikings” Paul Allen on KFAN’s 9 to Noon and broke down his impression of Banks after studying some of his film.
Bercich admittedly didn’t do a deep dive into Banks yet but watched enough to glean some big takeaways.
“[The Gators] moved him all over the place,” Bercich said. “For a guy that big, they didn’t stand him up much, but he was everywhere and he looked comfortable and looked good doing it. And (once) he gets his technique down, learns to keep his pads a little bit lower, the potential is mind boggling with this kid.
“I mean, the NFL, I don’t know if we’ve seen anything like him, physically, in quite a long time,” Bercich added. “So again, [if] not for that one question mark, this conversation would be completely different. And Rob Brzezinski was exactly right. If not for the foot, there’s no chance — zero chance — the Minnesota Vikings would [be able to get him at that spot]. I mean, he’d be sitting in Arizona right now.”
Instead, the board shook out to Minnesota’s delight. Arizona discarded positional value and drafted Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love higher than any running back since Saquon Barkley was picked second in 2018; and the “Top 10 caliber” Banks landed in the Vikings lap just past the midpoint of the first round.
“All I know is the kid only played [three] games last year and when he did, he showed up. I mean, think about that,” Bercich remarked. “He missed 10 games and then comes [back] for the last two and just balls out. (Then) he does unbelievably well at the Senior Bowl. … There aren’t a lot of guys out there that can miss 10 weeks of a season, finally get the thumbs up — and then a foot injury no less; it’s not like a shoulder or whatever where you can run and stay in shape. This is a foot injury and with foot injuries most of the time they’re booted up or you’ve got to stay off ’em completely. Well, this guy comes back from that and then lights it up off the street … lights it up for two weeks, goes to [the] Senior Bowl, lights it up. So, yeah, the injury is really the only question. And again, we [aren’t privy to all the details].”
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Banks’ availability will be all-important, which is the case for every player, but that’s where the similarities between Banks and other 2026 defensive line prospects comes to a full stop.
Just peep his Relative Athletic Score, which stacks a player’s measurements on a 0-10 scale compared to their peers. Banks uniquely checks size, speed and explosiveness boxes; his 9.83 RAS is 39th among 2,278 interior defensive linemen tracked from 1987 to 2026. Or just look at his spider chart on MockDraftable — 98th percentile height, 98th percentile wingspan, 94th percentile hand size, 94th percentile arm length, 92nd percentile broad jump, 89th percentile weight, 79th percentile vertical jump (at 327 pounds!), 60th percentile 40-yard dash (327 pounds!!) — it’s a green web shooting to the edges of extraordinary in every direction.
The point is Minnesota’s top pick is built differently as he joins a league full of athletic marvels.
“Honestly, it’s just natural, raw talent I feel like. It’s just kind of something that I have, an attribute that I have,” Banks said as to how he can move so well at such a size. “You can’t really, I don’t want to say you can’t teach it, but that’s just something that I could just do. I don’t really think, ‘OK, I’m going to do this move and it’s going to be slow.’ It’s just natural. It’s natural to me — comes to me like second nature.”
Bercich noted there’s always a risk-reward assessment in bringing players aboard, but there are scarier issues than a foot injury. Consistently flawed character, for instance, is calculated and tougher to rein in.
“There’s ifs to anybody you draft, but at least the unknowns here are a little bit more known. It’s a physical thing. You know exactly what that is. It’s not like it’s an unpredictable bit where you don’t know what this kid’s going to do on a Saturday night when he gets here,” Bercich said. “You keep this guy healthy and he’s going to make an impact immediately. And at the same time, you’ve got a guy in Flores that knows how to use [Banks’ skills], right? Flores knows how to use these uniquely talented players.”
Maybe the most exciting aspect of the pick is exactly that. Few coaches are ingenious as Flores.
“Caleb Banks’ skill set, it doesn’t matter if you run a gap control, downhill, 4-3 style defense, maybe like Tampa does, or you’re running a 3-4 like we do,” said Bercich, “He transcends, in that regard, scheme fit.”
Take Flores’ word for it, too, as far as Banks’ measurables reach.
“Size, speed and athleticism, you really can’t teach. It’s really God-given,” he said.
**Minnesota Vikings Had One of NFL’s ‘Worst’ Draft Classes**
Yet, others, like The Athletic‘s Dane Brugler, feel like the Vikings had one of the worst draft classes in the NFL this year, ranking 29th out of 32 teams.
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However, it wasn’t all bad. Brugler noted that Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golday was his “favorite pick,” believing he has a chance to make an immediate impact in the Vikings’ Brian Flores-led defense.
Brugler added that fifth-round cornerback Charles Demmings “could surprise” throughout his NFL career, saying that the prospect “leaves everything he has on the field.” Overall, Brugler felt like Demmings is a “worthy bet” for the fifth round.
While he’s admittedly a fan of Golday and Demmings, Brugler clearly didn’t think much about the Vikings’ draft class as a whole.
**Vikings 2026 NFL Draft Report Card: Initial Grades**
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**2026 NFL Draft: Minnesota Vikings Draft Grade Roundup**
**Vikings Hit With Indirect Shot From Eagles’ Jonathan Greenard**
Moreover, being in Philadelphia, Greenard noted that there’s a championship standard, given that most players on that team have won a Super Bowl in 2025. Nonetheless, while speaking about that standard with the Eagles, he kind of took an indirect shot at the Vikings and the Houston Texans, for that matter.
“It moved me so much [seeing the Lombardi Trophies],” Greenard told Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro in an April 26 article. “I was in Minnesota, I didn’t see any hardware there. I was in Houston, didn’t see any hardware. So I actually see it and hear guys talk about it, you know, Jalen (Hurts, quarterback) texted me and was like, ‘We’re gonna get one,’ and it’s not just talk. This is how everybody carries themselves around the building.
“It’s the standard, the standard is the standard. This team already had everything they need to get to that point, so bringing me here, I just feel like I can just add to that what’s already being built here and I can just be myself truly, and just play ball and everything else will work itself out.”
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Following the end of Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, Vikings interim general manager Rob Brzezinski shared a major reason Minnesota decided to part ways with the edge rusher, despite wanting to compete in the upcoming 2026 NFL season.
“He’s an impact player,” Brzezinski said (h/t Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune). “It’s something we understand is not making the Minnesota Vikings a better team today. But there’s a lot of factors involved, and particularly with the economics, we were able to reach a resolution that made sense for the Vikings.
“We’re going to miss him. We’re happy he was able to get himself a new contract, but this is not something we’re jumping around excitedly about. We did feel like it was the best thing for the organization moving forward.”
**Jauan Jennings, Veteran WRs Emerge as Vikings Options After Greenard Trade**
The Vikings’ decision to trade Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles opened more than $12 million in cap space for the 2026-27 season. They did not select a wide receiver at this year’s NFL Draft, so they now have some resources to pursue a potential option in free agency. Former 49ers veteran Jauan Jennings headlines a list of realistic options still available.
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Jennings has more than 200 receptions and 2,500 yards in his five-year NFL career, but he had just 55 catches for 643 yards last season. He will turn 29 in July, and he could be a buy-low candidate for the Vikings. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, and could provide Minnesota with a big body target in the red zone. The Athletic’s Alec Lewis mentioned Jennings in a post-draft story as a potential option for the Vikings.
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If Minnesota wants to go in a different direction, there are still plenty of free-agent receivers available. Deebo Samuel is looking for a new team after playing last season with the Commanders. Despite an injury-prone tag from some, he has played more than 15 games in three straight seasons. He recently turned 30, and he would bring a versatile skillset to Minnesota’s receiver room.
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Former Panthers, Commanders and Bills receiver Curtis Samuel could also make sense as a low-cost option. He had just 81 yards in six games with Buffalo, but he dealt with injuries throughout the year. He has more than 3,500 receiving yards in his career, and he’s still just 29 years old.
**Vikings Encouraged to Sign $82 Million WR to Pair With Kyler Murray**
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**The Biggest Winners and Losers Following the Vikings’ 2026 Draft**
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**Why the Vikings Felt Comfortable Taking a Risky Swing on Caleb Banks**
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**What Excites the Vikings About Each of Their Day 2 Draft Picks**
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**The Vikings Just Admitted Their Last 5 Games Didn’t Matter**
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**Vikings Post-Draft Depth Chart: Strengths, Weaknesses, Position Battles**