When Maryland held their Pro Day on March 29th, many Steelers fans were disappointed to see that the team didn't express much interest in scouting Deonte Banks. With the vast majority of personnel at Pitt's Pro Day, the Steelers sent just an area scout to see the talented cornerback in action during workouts.
For those wondering if Banks was off their radar, there's good news. On Tuesday, a source confirmed to Steelers Now that Pittsburgh has scheduled a pre-draft visit with Banks. This certainly puts him back on the map.
It's worth noting that Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan were finishing up the NFL owners' meeting while some of these pro days were going on. However, even if they were available, there's no guarantee they would have been in Maryland. In fact, their personnel distribution on the 29th of March suggests otherwise.
While Banks didn't get the pro day visit, he will now officially be back in contention as a possible draft prospect for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But where should they consider taking him?
Steelers shouldn't draft Deonte Banks at pick 17
I like the upside of a player like Deonte Banks. His athleticism pops on film as he possesses fluid hips and tremendous makeup speed. But regardless of his threshold size and elite athletic traits for a boundary cornerback, I wouldn't select him with the 17th overall pick.
This is a remarkable cornerback class and one of the deepest we've seen in the first three rounds in years. After watching plenty of film on the top ten cornerback prospects this year, I think it would be somewhat unwise to take Banks in the middle of the first round.
I believe that Christian Gonzalez is the best CB in the class, followed by Joey Porter Jr. and Devon Witherspoon. After these three, I have a tier drop-off before the next-best CB. Personally, I don't believe there is a big difference between players like Deonte Banks, Cam Smith, and Emmanuel Forbes. At least one of these players is sure to be available with the 32nd overall pick.
After that, I still think there's a strong group of cornerbacks with upside in Julius Brents, Kelee Ringo, Tyrique Stevenson, and Eli Ricks. Because of this, the Steelers should look elsewhere in round one if the three top cornerbacks are off the board.
Banks earned just 2 interceptions in 4 years at Maryland, per UMTerps.com, but some of this can be attributed to having just one full year of starting experience. He is 23 years old.
At the very least, the Pittsburgh Steelers visit with Deonte Banks puts him back on the map as a possible pick. I have a feeling that he's a player who will fall somewhere between pick 17 and pick 32.