49ers NFL Draft: Grading rookie class halfway through 2021
By Peter Panacy
49ers Round 2 Pick: Offensive Guard Aaron Banks
Unlike Trey Lance, who at least has flashed the signs of being a notable contributor, if not more, the Niners have received next to nothing from their second-round pick, offensive guard Aaron Banks, this season.
Banks struggled in training camp, which should have been a foresight considering he wasn’t pegged as a natural zone-style lineman coming out of Notre Dame. And whatever hope he’d show off at least a little bit during the preseason came to a premature end when he suffered a shoulder injury in the exhibition opener, meaning almost by default San Francisco would start Daniel Brunskill at right guard over Banks.
Nothing has changed in the nine weeks since.
Banks has been active for precisely one game since, and even then, he didn’t see any on-field snaps.
A season-ending injury to right tackle Mike McGlinchey potentially opens up the door for Brunskill to bump outside, possibly moving Banks up the depth chart and maybe closer to his first-ever NFL start.
Still, that seems remote. And it’s pretty abysmal a second-round pick has made almost zero of an impact this deep into his rookie year.