Kelvin Banks Jr. pick reflects Saints’ trench-building plan

By Ross Jackson

After the New Orleans Saints selected Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. with the No. 9 overall selection in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, he took the podium to speak with the media in attendance.

Throughout his availability, he highlighted the team’s desires to build from the trenches, why the selection was true to his background, what they liked about Banks and much more. Here are some of the biggest takeaways and insights from his conversations with the New Orleans media.

Moore on What the Banks Selection Says About Him

Banks was Moore’s first ever draft selection as a head coach. An unsurprising pick by Moore, whose background is in explosive offenses. As a former quarterback himself, he obviously has an appreciation for the protection ahead of whomever his passer will be moving forward. Banks checked a lot of boxes for the Saints and Moore.

“Certainly, I love the opportunity,” Moore said. “This is a trenches game. This is a game that’s won up front in a lot of ways. Obviously my background has been around that in a lot of places I’ve been and certainly this place has invested in it.”

Banks and the Offensive Line May Have Some Shuffling Ahead of Them

When asked about where Banks will play and how it will impact the rest of the offensive line, Moore kept plans close to the vest. But it is clear that many possibilities will be under consideration. 

The two most popular guesses for line configurations have been to move last year’s left tackle Taliese Fuaga to the right side to put him back in his college position from Oregon State. That would allow New Orleans to place Banks right back where he’s started all 42 of his games, at left tackle. What that would mean for right tackle Trevor Penning remains to be seen. The other guess would be to start Banks on the interior at left guard to allow both bookends to stay in place for a second year.

For Moore, this will be a process, one that doesn’t have to be solved right away.

“We’re going to give it plenty of flexibility throughout this whole offseason process,” he said. “(We’ll) allow those guys to go through this, give ourselves the flexibility to get our best five on the field, because we feel like we have depth beyond that..

What Stood Out About Banks

“Throughout the whole process, he’s everything you want your organization to represent,” Moore said of Banks. “The player, the person. A three-year starter, he’s just turning 21 here next month (he actually just turned 21 last month). You meet him, you quickly gravitate towards him as a person and you put on the film and he gets after people. He moves people in the run game, he’s a great pass protector. He just does an excellent job.”

This reflected his comments during the draft pick call with Banks.

Kelvin Banks Jr., YOU are a New Orleans Saint 📞@Kelvinbanksjr12 ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/tC3Nio9fUV

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 25, 2025

The Saints didn’t do a top-30 visit with Banks, but they did meet with him at the Combine and at the Texas Pro Day. For Moore, that was enough.

“We felt like we had a great feel for him,” said Moore. “I felt like they had done a lot of work from a scouting department standpoint and so we felt really comfortable with (the selection).”

On Trade Talks

Moore acknowledged simply that trade conversations are always a part of the process. It sounds like the Saints did have conversations about both trading back from pick No. 9 and conversations centering around trading from No. 40 back up into the first round. Obviously neither of those explorations amounted to a move as the Saints stood pat at No. 9 and did not pick up an additional first round selection. 

Moore acknowledged that there were some conversations about potentially trading back, but the #Saints felt like they could get a really good player at No. 9.

— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) April 25, 2025

There Didn’t Seem to be a Lack Of First-Round Grade

Moore was asked about the number of first round grades on the board this year and how it compared to his previous experience with other teams. In a draft class that many said would lack first-round grades, Moore made it sound like things were effectively status quo.

“It was probably close to the same,” he said. “It wasn’t drastic.”

The answer goes to infer that there were indeed fewer, but maybe not as few as expected.

Great Insight on Quarterback Draft Evaluation

Every quarterback any team talks to becomes a spectacle in that market. But for Moore, it’s all just a part of the process. One that he’s done at each of his stops and has turned into a beneficial one since arriving in New Orleans.

“You continue to evaluate those guys because you never know, you may end up working with them,” Moore said. “You know, Spencer (Rattler), I was in Philly. We weren’t drafting a guy last year, but you got to go through the process and better understand Spencer. Jake (Haener) was the previous year. When he was coming out of Fresno, I was in (Los Angeles). You spend enough time so when you came here  you really knew these guys really well and you’d gone through the evaluation process with those guys. So, I think you try and do it each and every year no matter what the circumstance is.”

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