Brian Banks Will Face Game of a Lifetime on Thursday Night
Aug 8, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons linebacker Brian Banks (53) makes a play against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half at the Georgia Dome. The Bengals defeated the Falcons 34-10. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Tomorrow is a big day for undrafted free agent Brian Banks. With the amazing amount of production put forth from Paul Worrilow and Joplo Bartu, Brian Banks got lost in the noise of the linebacking corpse whose depth is a lot deeper than we had originally thought.
His story is still one of the best in the NFL as of now and I don’t think he’s very bad. At the very least, I would imagine him to make a good spot on the practice squad. However, we don’t actually know that much about Banks’ skill set at his position. He looked good running the defense and kept up with everyone in camp just fine. One of his downfalls may just be that he didn’t get enough playing time in the preseason game.
He only played in the first two at the very tail end of the game and still managed a tackle in both of them. As far as I can tell, the Falcons are set at linebacker depth with Sean Weatherspoon, Stephen Nickolas, Akeem Dent, Paul Worrilow, Joplo Bartu, and Robert James. If Brian Banks wants in on the 53 man roster, he’ going to have to take every opportunity he can to prove that he’ll be helpful by taking up a spot. That means a lot of special teams production and a lot of defensive production. Basically a lot of production all around. He’s not under charity anymore; Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith are only going to give a roster spot to someone based on how much better they can make the team, not based on how they feel about each player. They can’t spare a spot in favor of sympathy, even the 53rd man has to bring something good to the table.
Tomorrow, the Atlanta Falcons take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is the most meaningless game in terms of starters. In means nothing in the grand scheme of things for this team. They could win 56-0 or lose 45-3, and it still means nothing to fans.
To Brian Banks, however, this could be the most important game of his life. He will get a large amount of playing time and he will have to play possessed to convince the coaches to keep a seventh spot open for another linebacker. Can he?