John Harbaugh offered fresh starts to several underperforming New York Giants high draft picks when he became head coach this offseason. Perhaps none of those players has taken better advantage than Deonte Banks.
To this point in his career, the uber-athletic but enigmatic Banks has been another in a long line of early-round draft picks by GM Joe Schoen who have not met expectations.
Banks had a promising rookie season after Schoen traded up one spot in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Banks, getting then-defensive
coordinator Wink Martindale a much-needed press-man cornerback. In 15 games and starts, Banks compiled a 79.6 passer rating against and surrendered completions on just 55.2% of passes targeting him.
Banks also intercepted two passes, had 11 passes defensed, and showed no signs of the effort/attitude issues that would plague him over the next two seasons.
Things have gone downhill since. Here are Banks’ three-year Pro Football and Sports Network Impact scores:
- 2023: Number Grade — 75.6 | Letter Grade: C
- 2024: Number Grade — 69.6 | Letter Grade: D+
- 2025: Number Grade — 59.7 | Letter Grade: F
Here are Banks’ year-over-year passer ratings against, per Pro Football Reference:
- 2023: 79.6
- 2024: 124.2
- 2025: 126.7
Here are Banks’ year-over-year missed tackle rates, again per Pro Football Reference:
- 2023: 8.6%
- 2024: 5.5%
- 2025: 13.9%
Banks’ downhill slide seems to have begun when the relationship between Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll blew up, and Shane Bowen became the Giants’ defensive coordinator. Bowen’s system relied much less on the aggressive press-man coverage Banks had been drafted to play. Because there was no one else capable, Banks was also asked to cover the opposition’s best receiver.
Banks did not handle the less aggressive, more complex scheme or the added responsibility well. His play declined, and his effort followed suit. He was called out by defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson for lack of hustle on plays against the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. The play against Dallas is below:
“Didn’t like it. Liked nothing about it,” Henderson said at the time. “When your man catches the ball, you have to break your legs, figuratively, to get him on the ground. And I thought there was room to do more. We expect that from him, and he expects that from himself, but in that moment he failed.”
Daboll then fired Henderson, who had gone to bat for the drafting of Banks and had been the most outspoken person trying to hold him accountable.
Banks’ play continued to decline in 2025.
Banks spent much of the season as a “use only in case of emergency” cornerback. He did not play any defensive snaps in two games, and played less than 10 in two others.
By season’s end, Banks’ most useful role was as a surprisingly effective kickoff returner.
When Harbaugh became coach, some wondered if he would empty the cupboard and get rid of underperforming players like Banks, Evan Neal, Josh Ezeudu, and Jalin Hyatt. The Giants still might move on from several of them. Harbaugh, though, wanted his coaching staff to see these players on the field with their own eyes before jettisoning them. They were, after all, drafted highly for a reason.
Banks has always had all of the physical tools.
You can’t do better than a 10.0 Relative Athletic Score. Ability has never been the issue for Banks.
The issue has perhaps been an over-reliance on those physical gifts. Henderson used to say that Banks needed to improve his “Football 101,” his knowledge of the game. Has Banks relied too much on his physical gifts and not focused enough on perfecting the techniques it takes to maximize those gifts? Has he perhaps not studied or worked hard enough to perfect what it takes to work within structure and do more than just cover a man?
New defensive backs coach Addison Lynch says coaches have tried to show Banks that inconsistent technique was hurting him.
“We make these tapes called ‘get better tapes’”, Lynch said. “We tried to just show him his consistency was his deal. He wasn’t consistent getting lined up fast, wasn’t consistent with his feet. So, he’s improved his consistency, now his play has improved, now his confidence is up, and he can keep this rolling into the season.”
Banks had a good spring. He split first-team reps with veteran cornerback Greg Newsome as the Giants go slowly with second-round pick Colton Hood. He performed well enough, albeit without pads on, to create optimism that he might be a more reliable piece of the defense than he has been the past couple of seasons.
It likely helps the 25-year-old that the system being employed by new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson is asking cornerbacks to be more aggressive than the one used by Bowen. It isn’t the all-out, blitz-happy “pressure breaks pipes” Martindale system. It does, though, want aggression from cornerbacks.
The other thing that helps, at least according to Lynch, is that Banks appears to trust what he is being taught.
“I really pour into these guys. I want to have a good relationship,” Lynch said. “Relationships make him be able to trust me, and if he can trust me, he’s gonna do what I say more often.
“Right now we’ve built the trust, and he’s being consistent in his technique. That’s all we really needed from him to prove that he can do. Now he’s showing up day in and day out, he’s being a pro, he’s putting in extra work, so he’s motivated to do the right things, and I think he’s headed in the right direction.”
Maybe Banks will never be the lockdown, All-Pro No. 1 cornerback the Giants envisioned when they drafted him. If he can be reliable when the Giants need him, though, that would be a positive development.
The spring showed that maybe that possibility still exists.
