Trojan Pros: Zach Banner signs a one-year deal to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Former USC Trojan offensive tackle Zach Banner was signed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, staying in Pennsylvania for at least the next season. Banner’s deal for one year sees him stay with Pittsburgh after he logged 216 snaps for the Steelers at left tackle a year ago.

At 6’8, 360 pounds, Banner is somehow not the tallest member of his offensive line as fellow left tackle Alejandro Villanueva stands at 6’9.

Banner last played at USC in 2016 as he started 37 of his 39 game appearances during his four-year career. Banner’s best season came in 2016 when he was selected as a First-Team All-Pac-12 at tackle but he was dominant across his entire time for the Trojans. The majority of his highlights are in pass protection where he regularly pancaked pass-rushers on the outside but he moved surprisingly well for a man of his size during his college years.

Seeing success at USC was nothing new for Banner as he was a 2x USA Today High School All-American at Lakes High School in Lakewood, Washington. He earned a five-star rating by Rivals.com as the nation’s second best tackle prospect in his class.

However, Banner’s NFL career hasn’t seen that much success after being drafted with the 137th pick in the fourth round of the 2017 draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He actually never played a regular-season snap for the Colts and only played 27 snaps during the regular season for the Browns in his first season as a pro. Banner followed that up with no regular-season snaps in 2018 and just 216 in 2019 with the Steelers.

He’s spent time on the Colts, Browns, Panthers practice squads before eventually sticking with the Steelers. He’ll likely be utilized as a fill-in tackle with Pittsburgh once again but they clearly saw something they liked as they decided to bring him back.

We’re behind you, Zach. Mainly because we wouldn’t like to be an opposition in front of you.