Steelers OL Zach Banner Shares What He Was Told By Mike Tomlin
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - SEPTEMBER 14: Zach Banner #72 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is lifted up by his teammates after sustaining an injury during the second half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on September 14, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Offensive tackle Zach Banner is a free agent, after playing on a one-year deal for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It sounds like head coach Mike Tomlin doesn't plan to lose him.
Banner began the season as the team's starting right tackle, but tore his ACL midway through the team's Week 1 game against the New York Giants. It would be relatively easily to disregard his future with the team after that, but Banner told The Athletic that Tomlin told him that he intends to bring him back.
“Coach T looked at me and said, ‘You are my answer for 2021, so I need you to focus on your knee, don’t worry about anything else.’" Banner said. "That was the best thing that I could’ve heard."
Banner was a fourth-round pick out of USC in 2017 by the Indianapolis Colts, but was waived that September. He was picked up off waivers by the Cleveland Browns the next day, playing in eight games. He had a stint with the Carolina Panthers in the 2018 offseason, before signing with the Steelers that August, where he latched for the next three years.
Zach Banner has been something of a cult hero for Steelers fans, thanks in large part to his prodigious size. He's listed at 6-foot-8, 360 pounds, making him one of the biggest players in the NFL.
His Week 1 start in 2020 was the just the second of his career, after he won the right tackle job in the preseason. He made 14 appearances for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019.
Hopefully he bounces back from the ACL tear, and can get back on track in 2021.
