The New Orleans Saints didn’t pick Kelvin Banks Jr. to sit on the bench, but where should he start?
Banks could be the Saints starting left tackle, left guard or right tackle in his rookie season, but the most logical choice is to put him at left tackle. The ripple effect would result in Taliese Fuaga moving to right tackle and Kellen Moore having to figure out what to do with Trevor Penning. While it’s unfortunate for the former first-round pick, someone had to be displaced when the Saints made the decision to pick this year’s first-round draft pick.
The Saints added Dillon Radunz in the offseason to be the starting left guard. It’s a one-year contract, so it very well could simply be a stopgap to a long term solution. Unless the Saints view Banks as a guard long-term, and picking him in the top-10 would suggest otherwise, the argument to play him there as a rookie is a tough sell. Radunz is already your potentially temporary solution, with room to grow into a more permanent fixture.
Banks becoming a tackle feels inevitable, so why delay the long term plans? To give Penning another shot at tackle? The Saints should have drafted a different position in the first round if that was their thought process and addressed offensive tackle in 2026.
The Saints know what they see Banks as in the long run. The answer is probably on the outside and that’s where he should start his career.
Why left tackle instead of right tackle?
The reason Banks should start at tackle has been established, but the next question would be why specifically the left side. Fuaga was excellent at left tackle as a rookie. He played well enough to not want to move him, however, Fuaga is a natural right tackle. It surprised many that he was able to make that transition to the left side so seamlessly.
Banks is a natural left tackle. You could bank on Kelvin having a seamless transition like Fuaga did, or you could move Fuaga to the right side and allow both players to play their natural positions. Yes, there is a risk of disrupting Fuaga’s momentum he built as a rookie. The risk of putting Fuaga back where he’s played the majority of his career is less than asking Banks to do something new.
Putting the rookie at left tackle maximizes his chances of succeeding and, theoretically, shouldn't impact Fuaga's performance.