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Don't sleep on E'Maurion Banks on Texas Tech football's 'electric' defensive line group
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- Don't sleep on E'Maurion Banks on Texas Tech football's 'electric' defensive line group
E'Maurion Banks is among the group of returning players Texas Tech football fans may have forgotten about.
With the transfer portal additions of Lee Hunter, Skyler Gill-Howard and A.J. Holmes Jr., it's understandable that Banks could get lost in the shuffle. Some of that is the talent the Red Raiders have acquired to push Banks and his fellow defensive tackles in practice.
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More: Texas Tech football loses RB Quinten Joyner for the season
Some of that is also due to the fact Banks suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Oct. 19 home loss to Baylor . Banks got rolled up on during Bryson Washington 's 1-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter and had to be carted off the field. A starter in six of Texas Tech 's first seven games of 2024, Banks is more eager than ever to get back on the field.
"You really don't cherish something until it's taken away," Banks said. "And man, I missed everything about this, to be honest."
Banks was putting together a career year before his injury, totaling 16 tackles, including three for a loss of yardage, and registering 11 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
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In addition to rehabbing — first strengthening his upper body, then running every day — Banks watched as his position room started to fill up with highly-touted transfers. Banks didn't look at it in a negative light. He saw the vision, and he likes what Hunter, Holmes and Gill-Howard bring to the table.
"It's just competition," Banks said. "You either going to swole up or you going to fold."
Banks knew he couldn't fold in his pursuit of a return to action. The mental aspect, he said, was the most revealing part of his rehab, needing to stay focused, not let his mind wander as he put in the work to join his teammates. It's a message he's already shared with running back Quinten Joyner , who suffered his own season-ending knee injury in last week's scrimmage.
"It's going to be a setback for a major comeback," said Banks of Joyner. "Keep your head focused. Don't get out of it. We got you at the end of the day."
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That also played into welcoming his new position mates, each of whom offer a different perspective and mentality to what Banks has been around for his five years in Lubbock.
"I can't stress enough," Banks said, "having that and seeing a different side of everything, it's the best thing you have."
That also applies to Texas Tech's new defensive coordinator Shiel Wood. Zarnell Fitch, Tech's defensive line coach, said he doesn't even like talking about coaches who are no longer with the team. No disrespect to them, but talking about the past doesn't help the current Red Raiders.
What has helped is a quick acclimation period, the new and returning players mixing well together from the jump.
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"I heard that around the country," Fitch said, speaking to the notion transfers don't mesh well until later on, "when people talk about transfers, and that doesn't happen here in Lubbock. When you come here and you feel the love from Texas Tech, you feel the love from everybody here in Lubbock, Texas, and then have a coach that built our program with The Brand, those guys naturally get attached to each other."
Banks felt plenty of that love as he was rehabbing his knee injury. While his immediate family was there for him throughout the process, so was much of his football family.
"You got guys like (Jayden Cofield), Charles Esthers, Braylon Rigsby, it's a lot," Banks said. "It's a lot of guys that was with me during it."
The defensive front is one of the key areas pundits and Tech coaches point to as cause for high expectations. Banks shares that vision and has seen it up close over the last few weeks of preseason practice.
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"We're going to be a great unit," Banks said of the defensive line. "A lot of depth. It's not really a big drop-off when you get to the 2s and the 3s. It's electric."
Banks has shared what it's like to play in Jones AT&T Stadium with his new teammates. Hunter is one who knows what to expect, having played in Lubbock in 2023 while at UCF. In that game, it was Banks' block on a point-after try that helped Texas Tech emerge with a 24-23 win, and it's a play Banks has used to joke around with Hunter frequently.
About 10 months removed from the last time he got to suit up for a game, few Red Raiders are looking forward to the Aug. 30 season opener as Banks. In his comeback efforts, Banks said his goal is "the world."
"I'm trying to put myself out there and got to the high level," Banks said. "This is more than anything right now. It's just working. Just work."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football E'Maurion Banks back with defensive line group
