Florida Gators star Caleb Banks has seen his NFL Draft stock take a tumble.
A couple of months ago, Florida Gators defensive tackle Caleb Banks was seeing his NFL Draft stock absolutely surge.
In fact, there were some who had Banks tabbed as a top-10 pick, predicting him to land with the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 9. This in spite of playing just three games during his final collegiate campaign.
Things have since changed.
Banks recently underwent foot surgery for the second time in six months to address a fracture he sustained the night before the Scouting Combine (he worked out in Indianapolis without knowing the injury had occurred).
This has caused serious concerns to surface around Banks, especially considering he suffered a similar injury early on in the 2025 college football season.
While Banks' elite size (6-foot-6, 327 pounds) and athleticism still make him a tantalizing prospect, there is no question that he is risky.
So perhaps it should come as too much of a surprise that Dane Brugler of The Athletic has projected Banks to fall to the New York Jets at No. 44 in a seven-round mock draft he published on Wednesday.
Caleb Banks. Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.The Jets are in dire need of a defensive tackle after trading away Quinnen Williams back in November, so Banks would be a great fit in New York. He would get the chance to start from Day 1 and could develop into a star in the Big Apple.
But going from being viewed as a possible top-10 pick to a mid second-rounder is definitely a gut punch for the 22-year-old.
Banks began his collegiate career at Louisville in 2021 and spent two years with the Cardinals before transferring to Florida in 2023.
The Detroit native doesn't actually have a major sample size of production. He barely played at Louisville, and his only significant season with the Gators came in 2024 when he registered 21 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
When it comes to Banks, it's all about upside and what he could become rather than what we have seen thus far, which is a mostly nonproductive player with a checkered injury history.
We'll just have to see if a team likes Banks enough to take a chance on him a bit earlier than the 44th overall selection.
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