The Minnesota Vikings see a lot of potential in Caleb Banks. But after a disappointing preseason debut, it’s clear the 18th overall pick in April’s draft has a lot of work to do to reach that ceiling.
Part of that process came last Saturday when Banks logged 25 snaps in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens. While it wasn’t a great performance with an overall grade of 48.1 from Pro Football Focus, there were enough positives to show his progress.
But with all the talk about technique, Banks also confirmed, after Minnesota's most recent preseason contest, that his conditioning must improve to get where he wants to be entering his rookie year.
“I feel good, [but] I’m definitely not in shape. I definitely need to go out there and run. …Definitely need to go out there and get a couple more gassers after practice, so you guys will definitely be seeing me doing that for sure.”
For some Vikings fans, reading that comment is enough for them to declare Banks a bust while dodging the Cheez-It crumbs on their keyboard. But looking at Banks’s path toward playing time, it can be argued that it’s an expected problem as he prepares for the upcoming season.
C onditioning issues for Minnesota Vikings rookie DL Caleb Banks come with an important catch
The Vikings love Banks’s potential, and at 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds, his blend of power and athleticism could make him an impact player in the trenches the Vikings haven’t had in a while. The problem is that a lot of that evaluation is a projection, and it could take some work for Banks to get there.
Part of those issues have shown up during the preseason, with Banks struggling with his pad level and lacking the splash plays Viking fans thought they would see right away. But the conditioning is another area that needs improvement due to Banks’s lack of game action over the past two seasons.
According to PFF, Banks played 364 snaps for Florida during the 2023 season and 422 snaps during the 2024 season before suffering a foot injury at the end of the year. While he was ready for training camp, he broke his left foot, limiting him to just three total games and 96 total snaps last season.
After breaking his foot again at the NFL Scouting Combine, Banks sat out the entire offseason program before being cleared ahead of training camp and played 25 snaps in the preseason opener against the Giants.
SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad also added that Banks worked extensively during the workouts against the Ravens earlier in the week and still played 25 snaps in the actual preseason game, indicating plenty of work for a player who needs it.
Minnesota Vikings fans shouldn’t panic over Caleb Banks’s conditioning issues
If Banks was healthy and doing nothing all summer, his conditioning would be a much bigger concern. But since Banks was rehabbing a broken foot, the amount of cardio that he could do was likely limited, leaving him behind the rest of the defensive line.
The lack of playing time during college has also shown up compared to his rookie classmate Domonique Orange.
While Orange showed up in a big way on Saturday, it’s also reasonable to expect him to be ahead of Banks as a player who played at least 200 snaps in all four seasons and a career-high 547 snaps during his final season at Iowa State.
For a defensive line that also has Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez and Elijah Williams, the Vikings can afford to take their time getting Banks up to speed. But that usually doesn’t fly for fans who expect every draft pick to come into the league looking like John Randle in his prime.
Banks’s conditioning will be a concern as the season begins. But if he works his way into shape and looks like the player he can be in the first few weeks, Saturday’s admission could be a lot of nothing by the time the games start to count.
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