Texas Tech picks up their second defensive back of the 2015 class in Navarro College cornerback Paul Banks, who was the first JUCO commit for the 2015 class for Texas Tech and the second defensive back commit of the class.

Player Profile

DEFENSIVE BACKS
PAUL BANKS III	CORNERBACK
HT/WT: 6-1/175 FORTY: N/A JUCO: Navarro College (Corsicana, TX) VIDEO: Hudl RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.3 | Scout | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports 78 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8007 VTM PROFILE DATE: February 2, 2026 OFFERS: Houston, North Texas, Texas Tech, Troy

The Player Speaks

Not a lot, but from the Denton Record Chronicle, Banks talked how the prior relationship with defensive coordinator David Gibbs and assistant coach Zac Spavital was the key:

"The coaches are what led me to change my mind," Banks said. "They knew me from when I was committed to Houston."

Scouting Report and Walsh Analysis

Bill Walsh scouted each position for the 1997 NFL Draft and I’ve attempted to use his criteria for evaluating players.

Let's go through this. I think that Banks does have good size for a cornerback, but he is a bit slight in terms of weight, but he has good height and that does give him an advantage. There's almost no video of Banks bumping his receiver so that's a tough grade for me to make on my end. There are two scenarios I suppose, the first being that he just wasn't asked to bump his receiver, which usually means that the player may have issues with speed, or that's just not the type of defense that Navarro ran. There's plenty of times with Banks threatening the press, but he backs off, most likely because of his ability to make up ground.

Banks does have good quickness and good explosion, but I think his anticipation is what sets him apart, which also relates to his quickness and ability to explode on the ball. He does have a knack of recognizing plays pretty quickly, making a diagnosis and then moving on to the play. He switches off and on from men pretty quickly to make the right play. Not a lot of video of Banks running up to support the run, so that may be an area of concern, especially if he ends up flipping to a safety spot.

Paul, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!