Bankston is an undersized runner at 5-foot-10, 196 pounds, but his frame belies a tenacious runner. Bankston is a short-striding runner which limits his top speed a bit (not that his 4.43-second 40 is slow by any means), however he appears to be a “quicker than fast” runner on the field. He runs with short, choppy steps and incredible stride frequency which allows him to hit top speed in a hurry, as well as cut on a dime. Bankston has good vision and the kind of contact balance you’d expect from a player with his natural leverage, which combined with his quickness and agility to resemble something like a water beetle. He’s able to make defenders miss in a phonebooth, constantly skittering from hole to hole and bouncing off of would-be tacklers.
Bankston is also a good receiver, with 31 catches for 397 yards (12.8 per catch) and 3 touchdowns. He had 10 total touchdowns last year, five rushing, three receiving, and two on kickoff returns.
It isn’t surprising, then, that Bankston’s real value comes as a returner. He returned 12 kicks at New Mexico, racking up 434 yards (36.2 per return), and the aforementioned pair of touchdowns. Given the changes to the NFL’s kick-off rules, it behooves teams to have dangerous options at kick-off returner. The opportunities will be there for a good return game to set up the offense, or even create game-changing scores on special teams.