Caleb Banks - Minnesota Vikings
Caleb Banks - Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings will play their third and final preseason game on the 2026 schedule tomorrow night, in Denver, against the Broncos. Then, we all have to wait impatiently for over two weeks, before we get week one back at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Green Bay Packers.
How much will we see starters on Friday? Probably none. However, there are other players who garner more interest when projecting tomorrow’s snap counts. One of those players is first round pick, Caleb Banks.
Banks was selected No. 18 overall by the Vikings back in April, a pick that drew a lot of questions at the time, and is still receiving criticism now four months later.
New Vikings regime frustrated with Caleb Banks?
And according to NFL insider Tony Pauline (Essentially Sports), we aren’t just talking about naysayers outside the building at TCO Performance Center.
Pauline’s sources inside the Vikings organization are telling him that Minnesota’s new regime, under recently hired general manager Nolan Teasley, is growing increasingly disappointed, and downright frustrated, with Banks at training camp.
Sources tell me some in the front office believe the prior regime should’ve gone in a different direction with the 18th pick and feel Banks will not offer them the immediate impact needed. They have not been impressed with the lineman, as he’s been inconsistent on the field.
Tony Pauline – Essentially Sports
4 plays of #95 Caleb Banks…
Flashes short area quicks, obviously imposing length/power vs TE… but pad level/balance very poor at POA. Flores HAS to give him manageable roles in Year 1. pic.twitter.com/DZYUaUfMsQ
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) August 26, 2026
From what we’ve all been lead to believe, it was Brezinski who ran point through most of the draft process, with Kevin O’Connell, Brian Flores and the entire scouting department going above and beyond their original roles.
So here’s what befuddles me a little bit, when it comes to this report by Pauline, which is seemingly shoving all this Caleb Banks regret down the throat of former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was fired months before the 2026 NFL Draft.
Kwesi, other former executives blamed for Caleb Banks pick
In Pauline’s story, though, the blame is passively put on Kwesi and more directly on the executives who served under him, were retained after he was fired, then let go following the draft.
Specifically, the NFL insider namedrops longtime executive Jamaal Stephenson and former assistant GM, Demitrius Washington, who were both let go back in June. Only Washington, however, was actually hired by Kwesi. Stephenson had been with the Vikings since 2002.
After firing general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in January, assistant G.M. Demitrius Washington and senior personnel executive Jamaal Stephenson were among the bigger names the franchise cut loose in June, more than a month after April’s draft. Some of the newer decision-makers now running the organization are questioning that group’s choice of defensive lineman Caleb Banks in the first round.
Tony Pauline – Essentially Sports
Related: Former Viking Everson Griffen Arrested on Multiple Charges
We’ve all wondered for months now, maybe years, who was the driving force within the Minnesota Vikings organization, when it came to drafting JJ McCarthy with the 10th overall pick back in 2024.
We’ll see if we ever get those answers. What’s interesting about this Caleb Banks scuttlebutt, though, is that nobody was really asking for it. If anything, the randomness to this news release, and where it is coming from, has my antennas standing up for possible schisms within the walls at TCO Performance Center.
Do we have a schism within the Vikings organization already?
Sure, they only name former front office members. But again, Rob was the man who is widely believed to have run the 2026 NFL Draft, and he is still very much a member of the organization.
So is defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who also found his way into Tony Pauline’s reporting on Thursday. Apparently, the NFL insider has sources in the MN Vikings organization who are pointing at him for the Banks pick, as well.
When all the world was predicting the Vikings would take a defensive back in the first round, I wrote that sources were telling me defensive coordinator Brian Flores wanted pass-rush help in the opening frame, and that’s what they hope Banks will do. Flores carries a lot of weight in the Vikings organization.
Tony Pauline – Essentially Sports
Related: McCarthy’s Future with Vikings in Doubt; Backup QB Change Imminent
Caleb Banks spent most of his final college season injured, and dealt with injuries and surgeries throughout the offseason. Is it concerning that he hasn’t stuck out like a starting caliber rookie, early on?
Maybe, but what’s more concerning is that there are important people inside TCO Performance Center who have already given up on him. And to add insult to injury, our defensive coordinator — who most believe is the best in football — is catching strays too..
Of course, reality is not linear and Banks has the talent to change the feelings of those around him. We’ll see if he has the mental toughness to do it… because he might need it after he reads this report.