Caleb Banks, by himself, wouldn’t have saved Florida’s 2025 campaign had he been healthy, but his lack of availability didn’t help. Banks injured his foot against LSU, and it knocked him out until the final two games of the season against Tennessee and FSU. But beyond the loss for the Gators, 2025 was also just a setback for Banks himself, who returned to Florida rather than leave for the NFL, hoping to springboard up the NFL Draft.
All is not lost for Banks, who is still on NFL radars and still could be a first-round pick in the draft. It will, however, take a massive week in Indianapolis to lock down his place.
Caleb Banks hopes for a massive NFL Combine
On-field workouts for defensive linemen are slated to take place on Thursday, and Banks will probably be one of the players with the most attention on him. Based on the recent string of mock drafts, there is a chance Banks could wind up being the first defensive lineman taken.
There is also a chance that a poor Combine showing could plant a ton of doubt in the minds of GMs. Banks had been a solid player, but it was the back-to-back games against LSU and Ole Miss in 2024 that catapulted him onto NFL radars. He came back for 2025 because he needed to prove those two games weren’t a fluke.
Unfortunately, injuries wrecked his chances of proving it on the field, so the Combine is his main chance to show he is still the wrecking ball who closed out 2024.
If Banks does have a strong showing in the Combine and sticks in the first round, it would be the sixth time in the last seven years that Florida has had a player taken in the first round of the draft. Coincidentally, Florida had seven players drafted last year, tied for the second-most since 2018, but had no one taken until the 4th round.