EAGAN, Minn. -- The biggest question facing the Minnesota Vikings' top draft pick this summer was clear: Is defensive lineman Caleb Banks healthy after undergoing three surgeries to repair a broken left foot?
The answer has been a clear affirmative. Banks has missed only one practice, and that was a planned rest day, while playing 47 defensive snaps in the first two preseason games.
Which brings us to the second-biggest question: Can he play at the level the Vikings projected when they made him the No. 18 selection of the 2026 draft?
That answer is less obvious.
The consensus after watching Banks move through his first training camp is that he is not yet ready to dominate NFL offensive lines. Opponents have found ways to get lower position on his 6-foot-6 frame and push him backwards, and Banks himself acknowledged last weekend that "I'm definitely not in shape" after missing most of his final college season and all of the Vikings' spring practices because of the foot injury.
At the very least, however, Banks appears to have joined nose tackle Domonique Orange -- a third-round draft pick -- in earning a regular spot in the Vikings' initial defensive line rotation.
"The one thing about [Banks] is he works and it's important to him," defensive coordinator Brian Flores said. "And in my experience, guys who work at it and continually try to improve, they improve and develop."
Banks was one of the more intriguing draft decisions in the NFL this spring. Under the leadership of interim general manager Rob Brzezinski, the Vikings had Banks ranked among the top 10 prospects in the draft. Some people in the organization mentioned him in the context of a long line of Hall of Fame-level defensive linemen in franchise history, from the Purple People Eaters to John Randle to Kevin Williams. But after the foot injury limited him to four games in his final season at Florida and then resurfaced at the NFL combine with another fracture, Banks' draft value grew less certain.
The Vikings' medical staff examined his foot during a pre-draft visit and emerged confident that it would fully heal in time for the season. That projection has proved accurate, but the residual loss of conditioning has been obvious to all. Banks joked after Saturday's 13-3 preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens that he needed to start running more post-practice gassers.
Flores concurred with that assessment, but believes it puts Banks in a category with many other players.
"He's right that he may not feel like he's in the best of condition," Flores said, "but I'm not sure he really even knows what that looks like, just like any other rookie. And I don't blame him for that. It's something he's going to have to learn on the fly. He's gotten a little bit of a feel for it in these preseason games, what the first half looks like, what starting the third quarter looks like.
"With these rookies, there's no way for them to step in and think that they're going to have the experience to really know what NFL football's like. But I would say our group's doing a good job. Our coaches are doing a really good job of trying to get them prepared and as ready to go as we possibly can, knowing that we can't mimic what an NFL game is like. And so I think he's right to feel like, 'Hey, I'm not where I need to be.' And I don't think he'll really know until we're really in it."
Judging Banks' play as the season begins will require the recent context of Flores' scheme, which has often asked defensive linemen to focus on assignments that don't result in splash plays.
Banks did some gentle freelancing in the 13-10 preseason win against the New York Giants on Aug. 15. After recognizing that he was not going to be double teamed, he used a swim move to get past guard Francis Mauigoa and into the backfield as the Giants handed the ball to running back Cam Skattebo. But Banks missed the tackle, later saying that Skattebo was "faster than I expected," and the play went for seven yards on first down.
Asked about that decision this week, Flores smiled. He made clear that he wants players to have an "element of freedom" and to experiment in training camp and the preseason, in part to learn the value of carrying out the original assignments.
"That's part of the learning process though," Flores said. "And I ask those guys to try to jump inside. See if you can get there or take the edge. But if you're [past] the quarterback, now you've learned that you probably shouldn't do that. Or you jump inside and they get outside of you, now you've learned. It's like a little kid with a hot stove. He doesn't know it burns until it burns. But that's what training camp is for. That's what preseason's for."
