Roster spot secure, Zach Banner looking to do bigger, better things with Steelers

For the first time in four NFL seasons, Zach Banner won’t be wondering whether he still will have a job come Labor Day.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers make roster cuts Saturday, Banner can relax and leave the worrying to others on the team’s 80-man roster.

“I’m extremely grateful that I’m not a bubble roster guy anymore,” Banner said Friday after the Steelers concluded training camp at Heinz Field. “I’m going to be on the 53. I’m not going to be in a hotel waiting for the phone to ring.”

Banner has come a long way in two summers since the Steelers signed the 6-foot-8 tackle after he was dumped by the Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers within a 13-month span. Unwanted by those teams, Banner has worked his way up the depth chart with the Steelers and entered his second full training camp with the team competing for the starting right tackle job.

Which is why Banner can appreciate how far he has come as roster cuts loom across the NFL.

“I’m not saying that is what I’m settling at,” he said. “I want to be great. I want to play. I do want to be a starter. I’m extremely competitive. I can’t make that decision. I can only go out and put it on film.”

Banner has done that for the past five weeks, and he apparently will have to do it a little while longer. Although NFL coaches must reveal a depth chart Monday, coach Mike Tomlin isn’t ready to announce a starter in the competition between Banner and former third-round pick Chuks Okorafor.

“You may see ‘OR’ listed on the depth chart,” Tomlin said, indicating both players will be listed.

OR is OK with Banner.

“I’m not surprised because I understands he wants to make a great decision. You are talking about protecting one of the most important people in the city of Pittsburgh,” Banner said, referring to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “You can’t make up for sacks. If you make a mistake on the offensive line, people get hurt.

“He’s making an in-depth decision. Whichever decision he makes … If I lost, it will hurt. But then I need to know what my role is. If I win, it will be exciting, but the minute you go out there and mess up, you’re done, so the pressure stays on you all the time.”

Banner has a year of experience on Okorafor, but Banner’s only NFL playing time in two years with the Steelers has come as a tackle eligible/blocking tight end. Okorafor has started twice at right tackle, a position vacated when the Steelers moved Matt Feiler, the team’s starter in 2019, to left guard.

Okorafor and Banner alternated days working with the first-team offense during training camp except when Okorafor was slowed for a few days by injury.

“It’s been a challenging decision for us because both guys are capable,” Tomlin said. “Both guys have been consistently above the line in their performance, and that’s a good problem to have. … I think we’ve seen two guys that are capable NFL starters at that position battling it out, and that’s why we’re not in a hurry to make that decision.”

The Steelers have a bonus day of practice Monday, and because they open one week later in prime time at the New York Giants, they will have an additional practice day Saturday. That will leave Banner and Okorafor with five more practice days before the season opener to make a lasting impression on Tomlin and his assistants.

Banner will take the same approach he has used since the start of camp. He will evaluate his play against his own high expectations and not concentrate on the competition Okorafor is providing.

“The only way you can do that and stay sane at night and get some sleep is if you focus on yourself,” Banner said.

To concentrate exclusively on football, Banner removed the social media apps on his phone. He was active in the offseason, be it voicing his opinions about race relations in the wake of the George Floyd death or playfully re-enacting scenes from the movie “Flashdance.”

“That’s what I encouraged him to do, and he was in agreement with that,” Tomlin said. “I don’t know if that’s a maturation process. That’s just getting singularly focused on appropriate professional business, and he has displayed that.”

Banner has spent his two-plus seasons with the Steelers reshaping his body. Once tipping the scales at nearly 400 pounds in college at USC, Banner is listed at 335 pounds on the Steelers roster. It’s not an inflated number.

“I’m most proud of my physique and my shape, and I want it to continue,” Banner said.

It’s a sign of how serious Banner is about being more than just one of the 53 players on the Steelers roster this season.

“I’ve been on this road before,” Banner said. “I’ve thought about things like free agency. I’ve been a part of it, so the opportunity to be a starter for the best franchise in the NFL is amazing.”