3 Texas players who can be first-round 2025 NFL Draft picks

Kelvin Banks Jr., OT

If there was any Longhorns player who is a lock to be a first round NFL Draft pick in 2025, it's junior offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. The 6-foot-4 and 324-pound third-year starter at left tackle has all the tools necessary to be a top-end pass protector at the tackle spot in the NFL.

With so many teams heavily investing in quarterback draftees in the first round of the 2024 draft, getting these proven pass protectors at offensive tackle could be a priority for teams still rebuilding in the draft in 2025. Banks could not only be the best in pass pro among offensive tackles in the 2025 draft class, but he could also be at a position that has a premium placed on it next spring in the NFL.

Just take one look at the type of numbers Banks put up in pass protection while facing many NFL-caliber edge rushers in the Big 12 in the last couple of seasons to see why he's so highly regarded at the position for the 2025 draft.

Banks has allowed just three sacks and under two-dozen quarterback pressures over 27 starts and over 1,000 snaps in pass pro in his two years as a starting left tackle at Texas.

Where I think Banks can improve his draft stock to solidify himself as a projected top five or 10 pick in the 2025 draft is run blocking. If he continues to improve his ability to set the edge and get more physical with run blocking in the SEC in 2024, Banks could be viewed as the top offensive tackle prospect in the 2025 draft class.

Banks could snap the over two-decade-long drought of first-round OL draft picks from Texas (going back to 2002).

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