Chris Banjo
American football player (born 1990)
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Ayokunmi Christopher Oluwaseun Banjo ⓘ(born February 26, 1990) is an American professional football coach and former safety who is the special teams coordinator for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the SMU Mustangs. Banjo was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He has also played for the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, and Arizona Cardinals.
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Banjo with the Green Bay Packers in 2015 | |||||||||||||
| New York Jets | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Special teams coordinator | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | February 26, 1990 Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 207 lb (94 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| Position | Safety (No. 32, 37, 31, 38) | ||||||||||||
| High school | Kempner (Sugar Land, Texas) | ||||||||||||
| College | SMU (2008–2011) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2012: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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College career
Banjo attended Southern Methodist University, where he played for the Mustangs from 2008 to 2011.[1]
Statistics
Professional career
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9+3⁄4 in (1.77 m) | 206 lb (93 kg) | 4.50 s | 1.57 s | 2.58 s | 4.27 s | 7.19 s | 39.5 in (1.00 m) | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) | 23 reps | |||
| All values are from Pro Day[2] | ||||||||||||
Jacksonville Jaguars
After going undrafted in the 2012 NFL draft, Banjo signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars on April 18, 2013.[3] On July 25, 2013, he was released by the Jaguars.[4]
Green Bay Packers
On July 29, 2013, Banjo was signed by the Green Bay Packers.[5]
He was re-signed by the Packers on February 26, 2014.[6] On August 30, 2014, Banjo was released by the Packers during final team cuts.[7] He was signed to the Packers' practice squad the following day.[8] On December 13, 2014, Banjo was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.[9]
He was re-signed by the Packers on March 10, 2015. Banjo was elected by teammates as a playoff captain after leading the team in special teams tackles in the 2015 season.[10]
On March 8, 2016, Banjo was re-signed by the Packers.[11] He was placed on injured reserve on October 24, 2016.[12] On October 31, 2016, Banjo was waived by the Packers after reaching an injury settlement.[13]
New Orleans Saints
On November 15, 2016, Banjo was signed by the New Orleans Saints.[14] On March 7, 2017, Banjo signed a two-year contract extension with the Saints.[15]
On March 9, 2019, Banjo signed a three-year contract extension with the Saints.[16] He was released on August 31, 2019.[17]
Arizona Cardinals
On September 25, 2019, Banjo was signed by the Arizona Cardinals.[18]
On April 2, 2020, Banjo was re-signed by the Cardinals.[19] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 31, 2020,[20] and activated on January 5, 2021.[21]
On March 31, 2021, Banjo was re-signed by the Cardinals to a one-year contract.[22][23] He was released on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[24][25] He was promoted to the active roster on October 4, 2021.[26]
On September 29, 2022, Banjo was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad after going unsigned in the offseason.[27] He was signed to the active roster on October 12.[28]
On February 26, 2023, Banjo's 33rd birthday, he announced on his Twitter account his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons.[29]
NFL career statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | ||
| 2013 | GB | 16 | 1 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | GB | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | GB | 16 | 1 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | GB | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NO | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | NO | 16 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2018 | NO | 16 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | ARI | 13 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | ARI | 13 | 4 | 48 | 34 | 14 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | ARI | 16 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | ARI | 13 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 131 | 7 | 143 | 108 | 35 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
Coaching career
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos announced the hiring of Banjo as an assistant special teams coach under new head coach Sean Payton on February 25, 2023.[30]
New York Jets
On January 31, 2025, Banjo was hired to serve as the New York Jets' special teams coordinator.[31]
