Banner has severe athletic limitations
To be a starting right tackle in the NFL, you don’t need to be a terrific athlete. However, when you are a historically bad athlete at the position, this could get you in some trouble. At the NFL Combine in 2017, Zach Banner tested between the 1st and 8th percentile of every athletic drill with the exception of the bench press (22nd percentile), according to Mockdraftable.
His lack of exposition out of his stance and sub-par foot quickness is what will get him killed against speed rushers. While Banner has worked hard to reshape his body since entering the NFL, he’s still going to be far less athletic than every edge defender he goes up against, and it’s only a matter of time before his weaknesses are routinely exposed.
Though I think it’s possible Banner could give the Steelers a boost in the run game, he doesn’t seem to fit the mold of the offensive lineman Matt Canada and Adrian Klemm wants in their scheme that requires these guys to work well in space.
Zach Banner may not be a terrible football player, but he’s got a lot stacked against him right now as a terrible athlete coming off a major knee injury. Though we hope he could give the Steelers a boost if inserted into the lineup at right tackle, it’s unwise to automatically assume he would be an upgrade over Chukwuma Okorafor. As many fans have learned going from 2020 to 2021, the OL can indeed get worse.