Texas Football: 3 returning starters assuming big leadership roles in 2023

Kelvin Banks, OT

There isn’t enough positive things that we could say regarding the insanely-fast development of the former elite five-star Summer Creek offensive tackle recruit and rising sophomore Kelvin Banks Jr. The reigning Freshman All-American proved to be one of the most consistent and menacing offensive tackles in the Big 12 last season.

In fact, I would pretty easily say that Banks was the most talented and effective true freshman offensive tackle in all of college football last season.

Banks showed during his true freshman campaign that he has the tools and production on film to be a future first-round NFL Draft pick.

Now, we’re starting to see Banks bring a new level of maturity to the table in terms of his mental makeup and effort off the field. Banks seems to be one of the emerging leaders for offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood and the Longhorns as Texas brings in another new wave of talented offensive linemen via the 2023 signing class from the high school ranks.

We talked about on the site earlier in the week that we heard some early feedback out of winter workouts that Banks was turning into a “leader by example” among the offensive linemen for the Longhorns in 2023. Banks is apparently blowing the coaching staff away with the way that he is standing out in the winter conditioning program and by how the other young offensive linemen are looking up to him as an example of what to do in workouts.

Banks is starting to develop into one of the most noticeable leaders on and off the field for Sark, Flood, and the Longhorns early this offseason.