Brian Flores has a plan for Caleb Banks
The Vikings DC talked about his approach to bringing the first-rounder along
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — Two years ago, the Minnesota Vikings traded up to acquire edge rusher Dallas Turner. Because of the amount of draft capital that was used to get the former Alabama star, there was a fair bit of scrutiny surrounding Turner’s rookie season and the first half of his sophomore year. During that time, defensive coordinator Brian Flores repeatedly asked for patience.
At one point he told a story about a conversation that he had while he was in Pittsburgh working under Mike Tomlin. The Vikings’ DC had discussed patience in the development process with future Hall of Famer Cam Heyward. The seven-time Pro Bowler’s spent his first two seasons in a rotational role. He only racked up 2.5 sacks and 31 tackles. In Year 3, the light came on. Heyward started 16 games, got 5.0 sacks and hasn’t looked back since then.
Similarly, we started to see things click for Turner last year about halfway through the season and he ended up leading the team in sacks.
Vikings fans and media might have to keep those two tales in mind as they evaluate the team’s decision to draft Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks.
Not that Banks is lacking the capability to make an impact right away. He is incredible quick and he steps into the league in the 98th percentile among defensive tackles in height, 98th percentile in wingspan, 94th percentile in hand since and 92nd percentile in broad jump (which is a good proxy for explosiveness). It would be almost impossible to keep a man that big and quick off the field.
In terms of becoming a finished product that looks like Cam Heyward or any of the other stars that he’s been compared to i.e. Calais Campbell, Akiem Hicks, Dexter Lawrence etc., well, that might take some patience in order to get there.
Just like with Turner, that’s not something that deters Flores.
On Friday, I asked Flores about his Heyward story and whether it applies to Banks.
“When you look at [Cam Heyward], you see that there’s value in that type of development,” Flores said. “He plays with a confidence and a physicality…it’s hard to say that not playing as much [early in his career] hurt him…And I’m not saying that’s going to be the case for Caleb or any any player. Everybody’s development is a little bit different.”
Banks has the signs of a player that might need a little more time. He did not reach 1,000 college football snaps due to playing in a rotational role at Flordia and then missing most of the 2025 season. To put that in context, the Vikings’ seventh round pick Gavin Gerhardt played over 3,300 snaps in college.
Not to mention that a foot injury will set Banks’ offseason back. He isn’t expected to be on the field until training camp.
Just because Flores knows it might take time doesn’t mean he’s going to sit around and wait. He talked about his approach for developing Banks in Year 1.
“I think it all starts with just trying to improve daily,” Flores said. “If through the course of that improvement, that [could] mean he plays a little bit more in this situation or plays a little bit more in this situation and he doesn’t play in this situation.”
One of the benefits of the defensive tackle positon is that players can be mixed and matched. If Flores decides that it’s better to have Banks play mostly in pass-rushing situations from the jump, he can put him on the field on second-and-13 or third-and-8.
Not only down-and-distance but also position. If Flores thinks that Banks is going to be better suited right away to line up over the B gap, he can do that. If he feels that he’s most comfortable in the 5-technique spot over the tackle, he can do that. The Vikings have enough defensive tackles with Jalen Redmond, third-rounder Domonique Orange, third-year DT Levi Drake Rodriguez and developing players Ty Ingram-Dawkins and Elijah Williams to mix and match as they see fit.
“I think one of the things you can’t do with a young player is, you don’t want to force the issue,” Flores said. “Obviously that’s npt good for confidence and development from that standpoint either. We’ll have a great plan for Caleb.”
Flores has already laid out his approach to growth with Banks, telling him not to focus on the bigger picture and what his “ceiling” is supposed to be, rather aiming to improve incramentally.
“Let’s take this one day to time, let’s string good days together, and let’s see what it looks like at the end,” Flores said. “I know there’s a lot of, ‘when do you see him playing? When’s he gonna be back?’ My answer is really going to be the same…let’s just bring good days together. Let’s get familiar with the system. Let’s get familiar with your teammates.”
Flores thinks Banks will respond well to his plans to work him in methodically.
“I think he embodies a lot of the things that we’re looking for in a Viking,” Flores said. “He’s smart, football’s important to him. He wants to be a great teammate. So we felt very comfortable…just my conversations with him already have been, let’s not worry about when we’re gonna be back or starting or anything all the way down the road.”
One interesting wrinkle to Banks’ role and development is the way that Flores has used defensive tackles in the recent past. In 2024, Harrison Phillips explained to Purple Insider that DTs are often asked to move blockers to create lanes rather than just rushing the passer themselves. That’s not uncommon in the NFL but Flores may take it to more of an extreme than others as his defense often leads the league in blitzing. On social media, Javon Hargrave shared some tweets suggesting that DTs don’t get production in a Flores defense.
What might that mean for the first-round pick in terms of his production?
“What you’re looking for is someone who’s open to... a different way, a unique way of doing things,” Flores said. “And most young players are…these are all new experiences for them, so it’s new, and my experience has been that they’re just trying to be sponges.
He continued…
“Our system is a little unique and then it can be uncomfortable and I would say this: it’s not it’s not for everybody either. And that’s okay. But with guys like Caleb and the young guys that we bring in were, we’re excited about trying to help them understand how we want to [do things]…. it might be a little bit uncomfortable, but here’s the here’s the reason behind it.”
With Banks and fellow DT Orange, Flores will have an opportunity to mold their skillsets to the way he wants to play rather than trying to work with 30+ players who have been in different systems before.
However it works out, the 2026 season might not hold all the answers to whether the Vikings made the right pick with Banks. It might not show everything he has in terms of “upside” or “ceiling” but the reason the Vikings selected him is that they believe he can eventually get there.
“I think, in a lot of ways, all of these players are like clay and we got to we have to build the right habits,” Flores said.