Safeties Coach Ephraim Banda (10.24.25)
I imagine you gotta to be pretty happy after last week with the performances of some of your guys, particularly Grant (Delpit) and Rayshawn (Jenkins).
“Yeah, I mean, for the group, just super excited. Happy for them to do it collectively as a group, to have such an impact, positively on the team. You know, just as a coach, I told the guys, you may play a long time before you see that type of performance as a group in a win. So just happy for those guys. They had the right approach all week. They attacked it with a positive mentality. They knew that we had to violently execute the game plan that Jim (Schwartz) put forward, which I thought was a great game plan. And they came out with the win but also came out with some production.”
How about, I mean, Grant and Rayshawn did get a lot of attention after that, but how about Ronnie (Hickman) too? I mean, you know, Ronnie did his part.
“Ronnie, he’s just been playing at a really high level for us, all year. I think he’s already at 40-something tackles. Hasn’t had an opportunity to get his hands on a pick yet – got that chance. He’s done a great job in the open field of getting the ball down on the ground, which are tough. You guys have heard me talk how hard that is for a free safety in attack defense. So, you know, for him to affect the game in that manner, in terms of everyone getting to see the pick, but he has affected this game positively for our defense throughout the entire year. So, playing lights out, very, very happy for him. He’s worked really hard. This is a guy that does not miss any offseason workouts. He’s here from start to finish and is completely locked in terms of what we’re trying to do with this team.”
So, when you see his, and maybe you don’t necessarily look at these, but when you see his PFF grade, which is, I believe, third amongst safeties, qualifying safeties that have played 20% of snaps or more, does that surprise you at all?
“No. I mean, he is playing at a high level. I didn’t know he was third, you know, amongst qualified safeties, but I’m not surprised. The young man has just done a great job of everything from the moment he’s walked into this building as an undrafted free agent to this point in his career. So, we got to keep that going. You know, I can’t let him get satisfied, which he won’t. You know, he does a great job of that, but we got to keep that going. We got to keep him in the right mindset and keep moving him forward, because he can affect this team positively and help us win games.”
There’s a video of him saying, “Give it to me, Tua,” right before the pick. And he said, it’s not like he does that a lot or ever. He just happened to do it on that play. Did you see that interception coming before it happened?
“I could, just because of the technique and what we do in that space in that situation. The way Jim designs that and the way we coach it, the way the technique is executed, which he did at a high level. It was one of those situations where I was like, just… and he did a great job, kind of like hanging, knowing where he had to get to and the point on the field and where the humans were in terms of alignment and just did a great job. So it’s one of those ones as a coach – and (Damontae) Kazee, it’s funny, Kazee was on the sideline, who’s played free safety in this league a long time, right before it happened, I hear Kazee at the corner of my ear like, ‘He’s gonna pick this off,’ you know, because we just all knew the situation, the thing it was coming, the technique, and if done right, it was going to be that. Kazee, literally, before it happened, he said it, and it was one of those moments where you kind of see it before it happens.”
You obviously know Rayshawn well, and I know he got to address the team on Saturday night. How important is it to have a veteran like that in that room?
“It was, like, the biggest reason why I wanted to stand on the table for him. I just knew what he could do beyond the field. I know, look, he’s been an amazing player in this league for a long time, but we had to have a vet presence in that room to make it completely work, as a group. So, to have him here, I knew that would come out. I’ve seen that in the past, but I also knew the play would come out. We saw that in the game. Not to mention, he leads the NFL in tackles on special teams. So, the guy is playing at a high level. He’s finding his way to impact the group and the team in his own way, you know, in situational downs on special teams. So, for me, it’s funny. He gets up there and he does the speech, and I just had flashbacks of watching him in Miami in the same space, but for me, it was even better because I got to see a grown man, really develop into who he is, on and off the field, but still be who he is and affect his team.”
When you look at Drake Maye, obviously he’s got 12 touchdowns, only two interceptions. But what are you seeing there, in terms of opportunities for your guys?
“You know, I’ll say this, Ashton Grant, you know, quarterback coach who was here before, has done a really good job with him as a position coach. I see like all the things I’d heard Ashton talk about, I bring Ashton into my meeting room and have him talk to the safeties about things that quarterbacks, you know, are looking at. So, he’s being very well coached right now. He’s not giving you a ton of opportunities and you see it, in his play. He’s a very dynamic runner. He’s fast. I think he’s second fastest in rate of speed or play speed in the NFL behind Jayden Daniels. But he knows when to do it, so again, Ashton’s done a great job with that young man and it’s not going to – your opportunities aren’t going to be a ton of them. We got to take advantage if he does give us a chance. But you can see the development of that player and just really done a great job in that space, in terms of Coach Grant.”
You face running quarterbacks, I mean, you see Lamar (Jackson) twice a year. I mean, but Drake’s ability to stretch the field with the vertical passing game, but also, you know, be able to run. How much extra stress does that put on, especially your position group you know, with a guy like that?
“It’s the day and age of ball now, like, and it’s seeped in from college now to the NFL at a high rate. So, it’s just kind of standard operating procedure nowadays. The times where you don’t have a guy like that you got to remind the guys that he’s not a big mover – this guy is, obviously. So it’s just more about understanding that the play can extend, but you got to do a great job in your third level zones of not, you know, getting out of your areas of space and in man, just doing a good job of plastering and not just covering the first route but the second route, when you have a dynamic athlete like Drake is. I’ll be honest with you, those are kind of core principles nowadays in modern day football. So, it’s not anything that really necessarily, you got to do more or extra. It’s just got to reemphasize.”
Stylistically, does he remind you of anybody?
“That’s a great question. You know, he’s special in terms of the ability to have the size and the ability to move. I think that’s what makes him so different right now in the league. I think, you know, 10 years from now people are going to say, ‘Oh, that guy reminds me of Drake Maye because he can run and he’s big and he’s got a really good arm.’ That’s what you’re looking for, right? Nowadays. So, great question. I’ll probably walk out of here and think about that one a little bit more.”
Some people have said maybe Ben Roethlisberger or Josh Allen…?
“Those are literally, the two you just said right now – it’s like a combination of Ben Roethlisberger and Josh Allen. It’s like this morph and now you get this like super freak. And it’s really cool to see that. That’s funny. You both said the two off my head, but I didn’t want to go that route and I didn’t want to go full that route either. But it’s a great morph. Those are two really good ones. Those are literally two that popped up in my head.”
When you guys have played so many teams that get the ball out of their hands so quick, right? It looks like Maye, at least, to this point, isn’t afraid to take shots. And holds the ball a while. So, do you expect him to change or do you expect them to throw deep and be a little different than the other teams he faced?
“I think at the end of the day, they’re going to be them. I mean, this is a Mike Vrabel coached team. I mean, if you just know Vrabes, you know what you’re going to get. And I think they’ll be themselves, we’ll be ourselves. We all understand, like when you coach attack defense, you’re going to get the ball, the ball should come out fast. I mean, if you’re doing it right, if you’re playing attack the right way and then you’re going to get the shots at times. So for me, I think they’re going to be themselves. We got to be ourselves better. And I think that’s the key for the winning, for us to play good winning defense. And Jim’s talked about it, we got to be ourselves better.”
How valuable was it for you to have Vrabel in the building this last year?
“That man is unbelievable in terms of like, vibes. Like, if you have like, you know, talk about aura and vibes, like, that guy is, it didn’t matter whether we won or lost. It didn’t matter the situation, obviously it was a tough year. That man came in with the same positive attitude every single day. He was always approachable. He’d always talk with you in terms of like just having a conversation but also coaching moments. So for me, I absolutely enjoyed my time having that, being around that type of person, the person he is. He’s just a great dude. Super happy for him. I’m blessed that I had a chance to be around him for the short time we did, but just an awesome dude, man. You just want to hang out with, you know, outside the building and you enjoyed hanging out with in the building.”
I’m going to go back to Grant for a second. Jim said yesterday that when Grant’s had his extension, one of the things he told him was like, “I want our defense to play with your personality.” So just over Grant’s time, just how have you seen his personality grow, come out and just kind of develop into what it is?
“Yeah, it’s over time. It’s been fun to see the maturation of that part of his game. And it was a big emphasis, like I told you guys at the beginning of the year, because the truth is, if our defense plays like Jim said, with his personality, we can continue to be dominant in this league. But it’s got to be, you know, with him leading the way in that space. So I’ve seen him really grow into that, you know, space and be ready to grab the mic and get in front of the group and say words that need to be heard. But at the time, we all know Grant’s gonna go out there and do it with his body and his physical traits. But now he’s really taking that next step of being there when we need him. You know, there was a play in the game, I was actually after the special teams deal, where we had to take the field again and Jim grabbed Grant, and I was standing right there. And we talked about it before, like, if we get in one of these situations, you need to get in front of the group and grab him. And Jim grabbed him and said, ‘Hey, get that group together and make sure we’re right.’ And I saw Grant run out there and, you know, and do what he needed to do, say what he needed to say, and we got the job done. So I’m happy for him. He’s playing it at all pro level right now. I’m glad that the world is seeing it finally. I get to see it every day. But to see him play at the level he’s playing at right now. The next thing, the next step is every single day, Grant Delpit, every day, over and over again. And that’s the next step.”
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