A former Nebraska Cornhusker pass catcher has a new chance at professional football.
Jahmal Banks, the former Wake Forest and Nebraska wide receiver, signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on New Year’s Day. Banks was previously an undrafted free agent in the National Football League after his one-year stint with Nebraska, signing with the Baltimore Ravens before being released on Aug. 26, 2025.
Banks was a one-year team leader for Nebraska during the 2024 season, playing in 13 games with 10 starts while leading the Huskers with 587 receiving yards and ranking second on the team with 44 receptions. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound receiver also had three touchdown receptions during his season in Lincoln.
Jahmal Banks makes a touchdown catch for the Huskers. | Amarillo Mullen
Banks was awarded the No. 4 single-digit uniform after being voted by his teammates as one of the program’s leaders and “toughest” within the team’s ranks. The receiver arrived in Lincoln after playing in every game with 10 starts for Wake Forest in the 2023 season, while earning honorable-mention All-ACC honors in his 2022 campaign with the Demon Deacons. Banks would finish his college career with 151 receptions for 1,991 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns in 56 career games.
“Jahmal is another one of those guys, man, he’s out there every day at practice,” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said after Banks’ final college game in the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl. “He’s a leader. He’s made that room better. If you’re in that room with him, you can’t say you don’t know what it looks like because he’s made that room better. He does everything right,”
“Me being the man of the house, with my mom and my sisters, it was about good decision-making. I like to say we’re products of our decisions, but we’re still not our mistakes,” Banks said about his decision to join Nebraska during the 2024 preseason. “Good decision-making and good leadership is imperative to live the life that you want to have – at least that I want to have.”
Jahmal Banks hauls in a 5-yard touchdown pass against Wisconsin in 2024. | Cory Edmondson
After exhausting his college eligibility, Banks signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in May 2025. The Washington, D.C., native made one catch for six yards in three preseason games before being released and remaining unclaimed on waivers.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers finished fourth in the West Division of the Canadian Football League in 2025 with a 10-8 record, qualifying for the playoffs before losing the East semifinal to the Montreal Alouettes.
Nebraska football has had several notable players earn significant careers in the CFL, most recently with offensive lineman Jermarcus “Yoshi” Hardrick, a three-time Grey Cup champion with the Blue Bombers. Winnipeg opens its preseason schedule on May 23 and will open the summer season on June 5 with a road game against the Calgary Stampeders.
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