Film Room: Ben Banogu Has a Statement Game Against the Vikings

While the sack numbers haven't been there in the preseason thus far, he has been ramping up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. In 45 pass rushing snaps this preseason, he has totaled two quarterback hits to go along with seven hurries.

With Banogu starting to turn the corner, I decided to dive into his dominant game against the Minnesota Vikings from this past weekend and talk about why this is a huge development for the Colts.

PRESSURE

Pressure is king in the NFL. While it is great to get sacks, the Colts saw first hand why pressure and disruption are much more valuable for edge rushers. Denico Autry and Justin Houston combined for 14 sacks in 2020, but they were near the bottom of the league in pass rush win rate and pressure rate. This issue showed up big time in key games down the stretch.

As the Colts head into 2021 with their young edge group, the key is pressure. They may not be able to replicate the sack numbers from last year, but if they can harass opposing quarterbacks at a higher rate, then this year will be a success.

Banogu showcased his ability to pressure the quarterback on Saturday. He started out a bit slow, but once he won this move, he was dominant the rest of the way. Here, he stalls a bit at the line with the tackle, but he continues to work up field. He gets to the edge and maneuvers around the corner for the hit on the quarterback.

Banogu is a freak athlete who can win with speed off of the edge. On this obvious pass play late in the first half, he is able to hit on (what appears to be) a cross-chop move on the left tackle.

The video is a bit tough to see (the broadcast angle did me no favors in this game), but Banogu's closing speed and quickness pop immediately. He does ultimately miss the sack, but what matters is that he was able to disrupt the play and get that quick pressure.

Banogu was able to win in this game on a variety of moves. It wasn't simply using his speed to the outside, he was able to use power and inside moves as well in his arsenal.

This play is great recognition by him. He notices that the left tackle over-sets to the outside, which leaves a bit too much spacing in between the guard and tackle. Banogu quickly shifts his rush and twists into that opening. The tackle helps him out by not doing anything meaningful to impede the rush, but the recognition and movement skills are great by Banogu on this play.

Banogu has always been a high energy player in his football career. When he was rolling on Saturday, there wasn't anything stopping him from making plays and being disruptive.

On this play, Banogu uses speed on the outside to force the quarterback to step up in the pocket. Once he sees the quarterback bail and begin to scramble, Banogu is able to work back down from his arc and chase the quarterback down for the tackle.

Film Analysis From His Trainer

Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to get to know some people who have worked specifically with Banogu. One of which is his trainer since college, and the CIO of Pro Football Network, Brett Yarris.

I asked Brett to break down one of Banogu's clips from this past game and talk about what they have worked on in the past that led to this. Brett sent me an extremely detailed response that speaks very high on Banogu's work ethic:

What you are seeing in the clip is Ben getting back to basics and getting back to being himself; a speed rusher with quick twitch explosion. Remember that’s why he was drafted. Record setting numbers at the combine.

In that clip you are seeing Ben getting back to doing what he does well, but adding his evolution to it; planning for contact.

Remember, coming out of TCU his biggest weakness was strategic thinking when it came to hand use. He relied on raw speed.

That’s what we spent our first year working on pre-draft through training camp his rookie year: taking his speed, his get off, and adding hands to it. And we added attacking hands and counter hands. Hands for initiating contact, and hands for countering it. We set up numerous drills working different moves off of his speed rushes.

One in particular was what you see here: constant inside arm contact as wall off. You see Ben explode off the line and in 3 steps he has the tackles hips complete perpendicular to the line. That’s a win and he now has a soft edge to work through. The tackles only resort once he’s beat like that is to get inside hand on and try to ride passes QB.

Here is the clip for reference:

Brett continued by talking about Banogu's progress of late and what drill they worked on for this type of rush:

And this where you see Ben’s evolution and getting back to focusing on his strengths: at this point when he sees the tackles hand coming, he gets his own inside arm activated and uses it to wall off the tackles hand placement so that he can’t get solid placement, eventually allowing Ben to wave his hand off and keep strides to the QB.

This was the drill we did: get him speed of the edge, one primary hand move and then wall off with inside arm finisher around the edge.

The wall off serves two purposes. 1., keeps tackles from getting solid hand placement and 2. Using that wall off and your weight as leverage by leaning into it and stopping the tackle from gaining ground and running you off while you turn the corner.

Ben has been focusing on being himself and doing what he does well. In his trainings, he’s put an emphasis on speed. Because that’s what he does. Now you’re seeing him use speed with a plan and and a counter. The results thus far are speaking for themselves.

I highly recommend giving Brett Yarris (@BrettYarrisPFN) and the entire Pro Football Network crew a follow for more insight like this. Especially Brett if you are looking for the best Banogu news out there!

Final Thoughts

This has been a long time coming for Ben Banogu and it is great to finally see him producing on the field. Obviously, preseason football is nothing like the regular season, but it is great to see him given the reps regardless.

The main question now is whether this will translate to more playing time in the regular season. While the hope is that he will see the field more, nothing is guaranteed with the group of edge rushers the Colts currently have.

Regardless, Banogu has worked hard for this opportunity and we are seeing the results on the field this preseason. If his number is called in the regular season, I have no doubt that he can step up and be a productive edge player for this Colts team.