I. The size.

Any Zach Banner story must start with Zach Banner’s size. He is an arrestingly large human being. Chuck Pagano had seen the tape and studied the measurables of his new offensive lineman, but the tape and the measurables can’t fully prepare your eyes for your first glimpse of Zach Banner in person, in pads, on the football field, dwarfing the remaining offensive linemen like he’s an eighth-grader and they’re still in fourth.

He is a skyscraper, but thicker. He makes 6-2 lineman look like they’re 5-2. He’s listed at 6-9 and 360 pounds. He’s as tall as an NBA forward, as wide as a nose tackle.

“It’s like an eclipse,” said Pagano, the Indianapolis Colts' sixth-year coach. “He’s a giant. It’s scary how big this guy is. He can barely fit into the locker room.”

The Colts welcomed 70-plus players to town this week for the team’s annual rookie minicamp. None stood out more than Banner, the towering offensive tackle whom line coach Joe Philbin vetted for eight hours over two days during the draft process. Philbin liked him so much, first-year General Manager Chris Ballard flew out to California to interview him as well.

Banner passed the test. He was the only offensive lineman the Colts grabbed in eight picks.

II. The weight

At his heaviest at Southern Cal, where he became a starter and team captain, Banner was tipping 400 pounds, a colossal amount of weight even for an offensive tackle. It was the perpetual elephant in the room throughout his college career, and principal among his reasons for returning for his senior season. He wanted to prove he could keep his weight in check.

Banner once told The Los Angeles Times that his goal was to go not just in the first round of the NFL draft, but to go first overall.

Instead he went in the fourth round, 137th overall.

He knows why.

“I think it was the inconsistencies of the weight fluctuation. I think teams were scared of that,” Banner said Friday before his first practice as a pro. “They were scared I was going to eat myself out of the league.”

At USC, he put on the customary freshman 15. But it didn’t stop there. Sixty more came as a sophomore. He was on his own for the first time, eschewing the grocery store for L.A.’s late-night food spots. He ballooned.

“In-and-Out,” Banner said. “You want a burrito? You can go anywhere. Chinese? There’s a lot. Any time of the night.”

Then he adds one more thing: “I try to block that out.”

As he neared his senior campaign and his status in NFL circles hung on his seesawing weight, Banner made the decision to trim down. He was as big as 385 as a senior. He knew teams would see it as a red flag. He knew they’d pass on him.

He dropped roughly 30 pounds between his final college game and February’s NFL Scouting Combine. After the Colts called on draft day, he declared he was at 349 and not a pound heavier, a number he seems happy with. He’s not a college kid anymore. His job is at stake. He knows it.

“It’s not that hard,” Banner explained. “In college, I was sticking with the rules, living on a small monthly stipend. You either have the choice of grocery shopping, and being mature, or fast food. I was immature. Me and you go get a burger? I gain five pounds the next day. I’ve learned that. Now that I have the means, and the funds to supply personal chefs, dietitians and things like that, and a great family atmosphere here, I’ll be just fine.”

III. The callout

Come at Banner and he’ll holler right back. He’s not shy. He’s not timid.

He played for four different head coaches in five years at USC. It was a roller coaster. There were ups. There were downs.

The Trojans stumbled to 1-3 out of the gate last fall, the program’s worst start in 15 years. A former USC star, LenDale White, went on Twitter to call out his alma mater ... and Banner. “A big (expletive) teddy bear,” White called him. “We are a joke!!!” he added.

Banner shot back. Told White to grow up, to “stay away and stay irrelevant.”

He later apologized for the tweet. What he didn’t do was apologize for defending his team.

Must have fueled the fire. The Trojans wouldn’t lose another game.

IV. The elevator rap

The problem when you cram eight offensive linemen into an elevator: It gets stuck.

When it did, Banner and his USC linemates broke into a freestyle rap. An offseason dinner with the Trojans offensive line coach last spring ended with roughly 3,200 pounds stuffed into an elevator for 90 minutes.

Banner, of course, live-tweeted the whole thing. About halfway through, the group burst into what they deemed “The Elevator Rap.” A few days later, after picking up steam on social media, the video made its way onto “Good Morning America.”

“We’re trying to sell it to iTunes,” Banner would later joke.

They toiled inside the elevator for over an hour, the sweat increasing on Banner’s face each time he sent an update to the outside world. The local fire department eventually came to the rescue, prying the 300-pound behemoths from their temporary prison.

The lesson here: Don’t get on an elevator with eight offensive linemen.

V. The charisma

Something Indianapolis doesn’t know yet, but something Indianapolis will know soon: Banner is dripping in charisma. He’s not quite Pat McAfee — who is? — but he’s funny, outgoing, self-deprecating. He’s 349 pounds of personality.

In other words: He’s everything most offensive linemen are not.

Exhibit A: Banner hosted a webcast at USC, aptly titled, “Big man doing little things.” In it, he rode a toddler’s tricycle. He tried ballet and had a tea party with 5-year-olds. He attempted to squeeze his 6-9 frame down the slide of a children’s playground.

He logged 373 community service hours in high school — he knows the number by heart — and won the Trojans’ community service award at USC.

“Team captain,” Banner proudly boasts. “Was never late for a meeting. I never missed a workout.”

He dreams of stealing from Michael Strahan’s playbook — a Hall of Fame career on the field, a booming one in the entertainment world after it. But for now, he’s just a Colts rookie, a kid trying to make a team and earn the coach’s trust. That will have to wait.

VI. The bloodlines

The resemblance is striking: Banner is a ringer for his biological father. But he was raised by a different man. Ron Banner is the man he calls dad.

Lincoln Kennedy lasted 11 years in the NFL as — you guessed it — an offensive tackle. Was a three-time Pro Bowler. Stood 6-6. Played at roughly 335 pounds. Started dating a woman named Vanessa during his NFL days. The two never married.

She did marry another man, Ron Banner, when her growing-by-the-minute son, Zach, was 8.

“Me and Lincoln have a friendly relationship,” Zach said. “We don’t talk that often, but when we do, it’s off of a friendly basis. I have a great father in my life, and that’s Ron Banner, who has raised me.”

VII. The move

Swap the sunny skies of Southern California for the glum of Indiana winters? Banner might be one of the few people on the planet with this reaction: Let’s go.

Really. Banner loves Indy. Like, really, really loves Indy.

“This isn’t just hype,” he pledged on draft day, spilling over in genuine excitement. “A lot of guys go through this process and they talk and they get up and say, ‘Man, I am so excited to be here.’ I really have been excited about Indianapolis. You guys got that great pizza joint two blocks up from the hotel where we had the combine — Giordano’s. That’s a great pizza joint.”

He continued.

“The Ram that is right across the street? The owners are from (my hometown of) Tacoma, Wash. It’s not like I’m reading off a prompter, gentlemen. I am excited. I have been excited. I walked around Indy when I was there for the combine. It’s a town that I can’t wait to be a part of.”

He found himself working out with Pacers All-Star forward Paul George earlier in the week back in California.

“He went to Fresno State, so he’s a Cali kid,” Banner said. “He just told me to enjoy it because there are a lot of good people out here, and he was right. Everybody seems nice. Like I said, the family atmosphere out here is incredible.”

VIII. The challenge

One practice in, and Pagano painted the picture of a project. Sure, Banner is colossal. That doesn’t mean edge rushers won’t feast on him as a rookie. The Colts offensive line coaches were tough on Banner during drills over the weekend. Technique, technique, technique.

“He moved around OK; he did some good things,” Pagano said of Banner before laying out the process ahead. “I think if he works and the weight staff and our nutrition people, we all get our hands on this guy, he’s got some rare, rare traits.”



Rare, rare traits that, it’s becomingly increasingly clear, will take time to cultivate. Even after starring at a program like USC — the Trojans won the Rose Bowl in January and finished as the No. 3 team in the county, behind only Clemson and Alabama — Banner, according to his coaches, will require some serious seasoning as a pro.

“When we talk about character, he’s got it,” Pagano said. “He’s got character. He’s got charisma. He’s got all that stuff, but right now, he just needs to get locked in and focus on the things that he needs to focus on to become a really good player on the offensive line for us.”

To hear him tell it, Zach Banner’s up for it. The challenge. The city. The team. The next step.

Minutes after being drafted, he instructed the local media to write these four words down: “I’m ready to work.”

Call IndyStar reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134. Follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.