From the moment Kelvin Banks Jr. committed to Texas, the 6-foot-4 mammoth “big human” was instantly pegged as a plug-and-play starter at left tackle. That was three years ago.

Now, Banks is an All-American, an Outland Trophy winner, a Lombardi Award winner and a projected first-round NFL Draft pick next spring.

He’ll be a father soon, having announced that his partner Demetria is pregnant with a boy. And to think he could still go out as a national champion, too. Banks plans to start this weekend against Clemson in the College Football Playoffs.

Asked Monday if this was as good as he ever thought it would be at Texas, Banks said, “I mean, honestly, it’s even better.”

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“When you’re coming in and your mindset is just to work hard and not focus on the future and just put your head down and work, but seeing it all play out first hand, just seeing how everything has went, I couldn’t ask for much more.”

Banks picked up the trophy hardware last week and shook off the major effects of an ankle injury suffered in the regular-season finale against Texas A&M. Banks warmed up against Georgia prior to the SEC championship game but decided not to play.

“The ankle is feeling a whole lot better,” Banks said. “I’ve been attacking my rehab process, so feeling confident in my ankle in where I’m at in my process. The Georgia game, it was just a sense of could I tolerate the pain or if I could I felt like I can go. In that moment, I just felt like wasn't the right time for me to try to play in the game.”

The Horns started redshirt freshman Trevor Goosby, who had a terrific game filling in for Banks against the Aggies. The Bulldogs were something totally different. Coaches ended up using tight end Gunnar Helm more as a blocker because the Dawgs were getting too much pressure off the edge. By taking Helm out of the passing game, it limited the Horns’ offensively.

Clemson had 33 sacks during the ACC season, a respectable total but not the league’s best. Banks specifically noted defensive end T.J. Parker (11 sacks, 19 tackles for loss) as the primary force off the edge.

“All we really have to do is just go out there and give 100% of our effort and 100% of our time and just understand, lock into the playbook, lock into what our coaches is telling us,” Banks said.