It raised some eyebrows when the Steelers signed Zach Banner to a two-year, $9.5-million contract earlier this week.
After all, Banner has made just one start at offensive tackle in his career, that coming in the regular season opener in 2020 for the Steelers against the Giants. Banner suffered a torn ACL in that game and was lost for the rest of the season.
But the Steelers hadn't forgotten that Banner won the starting right tackle job after a battle in training camp. They also feel good about where Banner is going and his recovery from that injury.
In fact, Banner learned Friday that he has a chance to be ready to return to the football field as soon as the start of minicamp in early June.
"As long as everything keeps going as it’s going, I’ve been running, I’ll start cutting soon," Banner told me Friday. "I’ve been doing football specific movements, strengthening the knee. Everything has been going really well. I got double checked during free agency by a second opinion out on the west coast by a very high-profile doctor. He looked at it. He said Zach, this doesn’t look like a six-month knee, this looks like a nine-month knee. Just keep doing what you’re doing. At the same time, we have to be smart about the joint.
"We’re looking at being fully back in nine weeks. I just found that out today."
That would be good news not only for Banner but for the Steelers, as well.
The team is counting on Banner and Chuks Okorafor, who started the remainder of the 2020 season in place of Banner at right tackle, as two key members of their offensive line in 2021. And it figures to be a line in a state of flux. All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey retired, while left guard Matt Feiler signed a three-year free agent contract with the Chargers. Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, who soon turns 34, remains a free agent.
The Steelers figure to have a remarkably different look on the line in 2021. Banner will be part of that, and it sounds like the Steelers will allow both he and Okorafor to compete for the starting jobs on the left and right side.
"At the end of the day, I really don’t care about which side," Banner said. "They haven’t given us any directions. They have had some conversations about who is who. We have to acknowledge we have a great upcoming talent with Chuks. We’re spending many hours at the facility. I’m getting healthy, he’s getting better.
"I’m one of 64 starting tackles in this league. I really don’t care which side it is. Whatever side we both are put on, I want to produce at a high level. I don’t mind that at all. If I don't start at left tackle, it doesn't mean I sucked there. There are a lot of guys who have great careers at right tackle."
It's about what works best for the team.
And for Banner, who was very nearly out of the NFL just a couple of years ago, this is all a dream.
A fourth-round pick out of USC in 2017, Banner's weight was an issue. Standing 6-foot-8, he obviously had the length teams looked for in offensive tackles.
But he also had an eating problem that caused his weight to balloon. It wasn't as big of an issue in college, where he could simply dominate opponents with his size. But in the NFL, where quickness also is more often a factor, it was a problem.
The Colts released him at the end of training camp.
"Some of my biggest regrets are from college, not getting the binge eating and my weight handled," Banner said. "I knew I could have been a higher draft pick and (Coach Mike Tomlin) has told me that many times since the early stages of me being here. It was his way of motivation. 'You would have been a top pick if you had gotten your crap together. Now you do, so don’t live in the past, live in the now.’ That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from this team."
It took him a couple of years -- and two more NFL stops to get there. He spent the 2017 season with the Browns. Then he was signed by the Panthers, who released him at the end of training camp.
The Steelers took a chance on him in 2018, signing him to their 53-man roster. But Tomlin was adamant that Banner had to get his weight under control.
He started eating better and working out. The weight melted off of him.
"Coach T brought it up to me in the middle the season and told me 'Make yourself a guy here,'" Banner said. "I came back and played jumbo tight end the next season. Then I came back and started the season after that. I feel the progression in my game and that humbles me enough to keep working toward that goal."
It's that progression that continues to drive him and has throughout his rehab process.
The contract is nice. And Banner now knows that he's part of the team's plans moving forward. He can now start tackling his next goals.
"These last couple of days, I’m not going to say I’ve been acting different, I’ve been going to work, going to rehab, just sticking to myself," he said. "It seems unreal right now. At the same time, this isn’t the end dream -- Super Bowls, Pro Bowls for individual things. Being a top tackle in the NFL is a dream of mine. But it’s going to take work. I’ve got to beat this injury. I’ve got to get my game right. I’ve got to put stuff on film. I’ve got to evaluate myself. It’s a work in progress."
But it is progressing.
