Physical CB Deonte Banks Has Steelers Attention
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have been busy meeting with essentially all of the NFL Draft's top cornerbacks, with most of those meetings being formals. One of the potential risers out of these groups? Maryland's Deonte Banks.
After a strong campaign for the Terps' defense, Banks finds himself in a loaded cornerback class with other elite athletes. What sets him apart from the rest of the guys at his position?
"I physically impose my will on people," Banks said. "I press all day, and I'm physical."
Banks loves to play near the line of scrimmage in press coverage, making him a natural fit within the Steelers' defense. I asked him about his technique, and he broke it down eloquently.
"I like to kick-step slide 45 (degrees) and get my hands on," he said. "If they try to come across my body, I'm going to two-hand jam him."
Banks said that the meeting with the Steelers went "really good," and that he and Mike Tomlin basically talked the whole meeting.
"It was real smooth."
The Baltimore native has already put together an incredible combine performance after measuring in at 6-0, 197 pounds. A 42-inch vertical and 11'4" broad jump are both insanely good measures for any cornerback.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin's son, Dino, was one of Banks' teammates earlier in their college careers, so there's a real familiarity there between the two.
If you want a glimpse behind Banks' competitiveness, turn on the Ohio State film from this past season. The Buckeyes' offense features two potential first-round picks in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, but Banks didn't back down one bit. Instead, he trusted his technique and showed off his confidence by aligning in press coverage in plenty of reps.
Competitiveness, physicality and explosive athleticism are some of the traits visible on film, and those should be awfully intriguing for a Steelers front office looking for a potential long-term CB1.
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