Notre Dame football: Bust talk too premature for Aaron Banks
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team lost Aaron Banks to the NFL after a stellar 2020 campaign, but he has not gotten off to a great start at the next level.
With their second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Aaron Banks, this after he put together an All-American career with the Irish. Banks shined during the Senior Bowl week, and put his name firmly as a Day 2 pick, so him being selected was not a surprise.
What has been a surprise has been his struggles since joining the 49ers, something that has caught the eye of those who cover the team. While he was a dominant player for the Irish, he has had a rough start to his NFL career, playing poorly, and then suffering a shoulder injury that will rob him of the rest of his preseason.
Recently, the talented Peter Panacy from NinerNoise, FanSided’s San Francisco 49ers team site wrote a piece about Banks’ rough start to his NFL career. Banks has struggled so much that the term ‘bust’ has already been thrown around, and both he, and we believe that it is a huge overreaction.
Notre Dame football replacing a lot of talent along the offensive line
Banks is going to be fine, and as Panacy said, he was never expected to be a plug-and-play piece for the 49ers. In fact, sitting for the beginning of the season could do him well, but with youth on the horizon at quarterback in Trey Lance, Banks will have to get up to speed, especially in a tough NFC West.
For the Irish, Banks is just one of four starters from last season that they have to replace including another All-American in Liam Eichenberg. Eichenberg is having an opposite start to his NFL career, carving out a starting role with the Miami Dolphins, though he had to move inside to offensive guard to do so.
Banks is someone who should not be counted out and to name him a bust is certainly a joke at this point. He may never become the kind of player that Quenton Nelson is with the Indianapolis Colts, but when all is said and done, he is certainly going to be an anchor for their offensive line for years to come.