While not nearly as surprising as the Los Angeles Rams using the No. 13 overall pick in Thursday night's opening round of the 2026 NFL Draft to select Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, the Minnesota Vikings certainly raised some eyebrows with their first pick of this year's festivities at No. 18 overall, opting for Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks.
Adding to the interior defensive line undoubtedly makes sense after the Vikings chose to release both Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, moves that cost Minnesota a pretty penny in dead money, but also cleared more than $21 million of salary cap space.
Now, when healthy, Banks is fantastic, as he proved during his 2024 breakout campaign for the Gators in which he racked up 7.0 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. But his health was an issue this past year, as an injured left foot limited him to just three games. The 6-foot-6, 330-pounder was healthy enough to show out at the Senior Bowl, but that same left foot continues to be a problem, as he recently underwent surgery to repair a fractured fourth metatarsal in his left foot, which won't allow him to resume full football activities until at least June.
Throw in the fact that the player that the majority of mock drafts had the Vikings selecting, Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, was still on the board, and the Banks pick only got that much more polarizing. Some liked the pick, but famed ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. was certainly not one of those people, as he echoed what a lot of Minnesota fans are feeling right now.
Mel Kiper Jr. says the Minnesota Vikings drafting Caleb Banks was a "big-time reach"
Not long after Thursday's happenings concluded, Kiper dropped his thoughts on the opening round, and the Vikings' selection of Banks fell into his "questionable picks and reaches" category, which doesn't really come as much of a surprise. Here's what Kiper had to say:
"Big-time reach for me. Banks was No. 62 on my board, the biggest stretch of the night. Sure, there's reason to believe this could work out for the Vikings. Banks can stop running backs in their tracks, and he gets enough interior push to be a factor in the pass rush. He moves well for a 6-foot-6, 327-pounder. But he has been dealing with a foot injury for a while now, and he just had surgery on it after the combine. A lot of risk here, even if Banks healthy and at his best can shore up the interior.
"This was made worse by the fact that safety Dillon Thieneman was still on the board. Everyone thought that pairing made sense. Harrison Smith is still uncertain to return for 2026, and even if he comes back, he's 37 years old. Thieneman would have been perfect in Brian Flores' defense. Not sure I understand this one."
Yeah, that about sums it up perfectly.
As polarizing as this pick seems to be among the fan base, there's nothing that can be done about it now, and the Vikings will simply have to live with this decision. And they'll have to hope that Thieneman doesn't torch them twice a year, of course, as he ended up with the rival Chicago Bears at No. 25 overall.
Kevin O'Connell has already done his due diligence in defending Banks, but one seriously has to wonder if he would have still been on the board when the Vikings go on the clock in Round 2 at No. 49 overall. But I suppose we'll just never know.
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