Are New York Giants’ investments at cornerback paying off?

Some are, and some have not as of yet

One of my core roster building beliefs is that NFL teams can never have too many good coverage cornerbacks. Do the New York Giants have enough?

GM Joe Schoen is trying, having devoted four draft picks — three of them premium Day 1 or Day 2 selections — to the position.

Current roster: Deonte Banks, Cor’Dale Flott, Dru Phillips, Adoree’ Jackson, Tre Hawkins III, Art Green

Players drafted since 2022: Cor’Dale Flott (Round 3, No. 81, 2022); Deonte Banks (Round 1, No. 24, 2023); Tre Hawkins (Round 6, No. 209, 2023); Dru Phillips (Round 3, No. 70, 2024)

Biggest free agent signing: None … unless you count bringing back Adoree’ Jackson this season.

Biggest losses: James Bradberry

Schoen often talks about building for long-term sustainability rather than the short-term. His moves at cornerback, sometimes through necessity but most often through design, have reflected that.

• In his first offseason, Schoen was forced to cut ties with starting cornerback James Bradberry to begin digging his way out of a cap mess he inherited. Bradberry had a terrific 2022 season for the Philadelphia Eagles, but struggled last year and has spent this season on IR.
• Schoen signed veteran Fabian Moreau as a stop-gap cornerback in 2022. Even though Moreau played well, he was not retained.
• Schoen waited as long as possible this year before bringing back veteran Adoree’ Jackson to add depth, hoping his young cornerbacks would step up.

Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images

If you remember from ‘Hard Knocks’, Schoen and the Giants were interested in cornerbacks KoolAid McKinstry and Kamari Lassiter in the 2024 NFL Draft. Neither made it to the Giants’ pick at No. 47. McKinstry went to the New Orleans Saints at No. 41 and Lassiter to the Houston Texans at No. 42. Both have shown promise, showing that the Giants were right in their evaluations.

The Giants “settled” for safety Tyler Nubin, who has played 99% of the team’s defensive snaps and appears to be a long-term answer at that position in Round 2.

They took slot cornerback Dru Phillips, the second-youngest player on the roster behind wide receiver Malik Nabers, in Round 3. Phillips has been impressive enough that he recently showed up in Round 1 of a Yahoo Sports re-draft and was the 11th-ranked rookie by NFL.com in its midseason rookie rankings.

So, you can argue that after missing out on a cornerback in Round 2 they found two long-term answers in their secondary.

The Giants, incidentally, had three players in the top 25 of that ranking.

Flott, in his third year, was a question mark as an outside cornerback heading into the season. He has played decently with four passes defensed and a 101.1 passer rating against. Despite being in his third season, the only Giants younger than the 23-year-old Flott are Nabers, Phillips and Jalin Hyatt.

How many resources the Giants continue to need to put into cornerback in the next couple of offseasons depends largely on Banks.

The former Maryland Terrapin showed promise last season, when he only occasionally had to match up with the No. 1 receiver on opposing teams. Even as a collegian Banks has never made enough plays on the ball, but the hope has been that would change with experience.

Banks has struggled this season as the Giants have changed their defensive scheme and he has been asked to cover No. 1 receivers full time. The effort issues that led to Banks’ eventual benching for part of a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, though, are a red flag and bear continued attention.

“We’re not giving up on Tae,” GM Joe Schoen said during his bye week press conference. “He’s got the physical traits. He’s shown the ability to match the top receivers on other teams. And corner’s a tough position to play. You’re moving backwards and you’re going against some of the greatest athletes in the world that are moving forward. And there’s balls that are going to be caught on you. And he’s been in really good position on some of them.

“So, we’re not going to give up on Tae. He works hard. He wants it. And I still believe he’s got a bright future.”

The verdict

This is a position the Giants need to continue pouring resources into. Jackson has given them little as a veteran backup, so improvement could be used there. Flott has done OK, but size is still an issue for the 175-pounder on the outside. An upgrade could be found there, which would turn Flott into a useful depth player in the slot and on the outside.

How heavily the Giants need to invest in this position, though, comes down to whether Banks a) grows up and b) shows he isn’t overmatched against the league’s top receivers.