Make or Break: Can Deonte Banks realize his potential?

The New York Giants are expecting big things from cornerback Deonte Banks.

There have been high expectations of Banks from the start. After all, not only did they make him a first-round pick, but they used additional draft capital to trade up and acquire him.

Unfortunately, Banks’ career thus far has been a roller coaster.

He’s had some great highs, as well as some deep lows. And overall he has yet to live up to the expectations placed upon him when he was drafted. He’s entering the third year of his rookie contract, so the Giants could have control of him until 2027. But it’s also difficult to see 2025 as anything other than a “make or break” year for the 24-year-old cornerback.

The Giants invested heavily in their defense as a whole this year, adding to every level and building a unit that is young, hyper athletic, and potentially fearsome. Banks, however, stands out as a potential weak link in that defense.

So will Banks (finally) play up to his prodigious potential, or will the Giants be forced to go in another direction?

Why he can break out

First and foremost, Banks is a truly elite athlete. We throw the words “elite” and “freak” around quite a bit — and perhaps a bit too freely at times — but Banks’ traits deserve them.

He has a legitimately rare blend of size, speed, and explosiveness which can allow him to match up physically with almost any receiver in the NFL.

Banks has the speed to run with receivers down the field, as well as the explosiveness to close quickly when playing off, and the size to not be bullied at the catch point.

The Giants are playing quarters coverage this play, while the Seahawks are in a 3×1 set. Banks is on the the defensive right at the bottom of the screen, the same side as D.K. Metcalf who is the lone receiver on that side.

We get a great look at Banks’ explosiveness as he stays disciplined in his assignment and baits Geno Smith into throwing to Metcalf. The Giants’ spacing opens a void between the numbers and hash marks, but Banks positions himself slightly beneath Metcalf. That creates a lane to the catch point for Banks, and doesn’t allow Metcalf to shield the ball from the corner. Instead, Banks is able to close hard and fast, knocking the ball away at he last instant.

There has been significant criticism of Banks’ play at the catch point, and it has been deserved. That said, he did show some growth over the course of the 2025 season, and was playing the ball better after returning from the rib injury suffered against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and cost him the next three weeks.

Banks is on the defensive right in both instances, and it might not be much of a coincidence that he’s matched up in man coverage in both plays as well. He’s always been better and more comfortable in man than zone (more on that in bit). But even so, he appeared to be playing more consistently “fast” later in the season than earlier.

This also brings us to one of the quiet strengths of Banks’ game: Forcing incompletions.

Banks didn’t have an interception in 2024, however he did finish with 12 passes defensed. That was an improvement over 2023 (11 passes defensed), despite playing one fewer game (14, as opposed to 15). Per Pro Football Focus, Banks was tied for 11th in the NFL in forced incompletions and was 12th in forced incompletion rate (12%).

Part of that is due to the fact that Banks is actually quite good at forcing tight window throws when he’s in phase with the receiver. His athleticism and movement skills allow him to be sticky, while his size gives him the play strength to jar the ball loose.

In this second video, the Giants are in what appears to be a Cover 4 shell with pattern matching rules in effect. Banks is lined up on the defensive left at the top of the screen. He picks up TE Jordan Atkins as he releases into a shallow crossing route, easily erasing the separation and doing a good job of making a play around the tight end from behind.

It’s somewhat notable that Banks was aligned on the defensive left. As you can tell from the majority of plays featured in this piece, he typically lined up on the defensive right, playing there 444 snaps to 261 (per PFF). That fits well with free agent addition Paulson Adebo, who played left cornerback almost exclusively for the Saints.

Banks was often asked to shadow other teams’ top receivers on the outside last year. And while that resulted in a stellar game against D.K. Metcalf and the Seattle Seahawks, he struggled when matched up against the likes of AJ Brown or CeeDee Lamb. The addition of Adebo could mean that Banks the Giants’ corners would be playing “sides” as opposed to traveling with receivers.

Several teams targeted Banks relentlessly when he traveled with their top receiver. If the Giants are able to play sides, offenses would need to move their top receiver to Banks’ side. The Giants could then roll help his way and trust Adebo and Dru Phillips to deal with the second and third receivers. Conversely, they could do the same if the top receiver is on Adebo’s side, giving him the double team while Banks is matched up on the number two.

The Giants used that tactic against the Cincinnati Bengals to relatively good effect. They tasked Cor’Dale Flott and a safety with containing Ja’Marr Chase, while Banks matched up with Tee Higgins. The result was one of Banks’ best games and the Bengals were held to 17 points — nearly 11 fewer than their average of 27.8 points per game.

All told, there’s reason to believe that Banks’ traits and strengths are a solid foundation for a good cornerback. Likewise, the Giants may have built an environment in which he can thrive.

Why he may bust

It doesn’t take much time watching Banks’ tape to see the issues with his game.

First and foremost, he didn’t appear particularly comfortable in zone coverage, particularly early in the season.

Here we see the Giants in a Cover 4 shell, with Banks dropping into a coverage zone on the defensive right (at the top of the screen). At first he shows some slight hesitation before driving down on the pass toward Terry McLaurin. When he does, he takes a poor angle and crashes too hard inside and gives up an outside escape should the receiver catch the ball. Then he realizes his mistake and tries to correct, which slows him down even more.

Fortunately, the ball was poorly placed as Jayden Daniels scrambles and tries to avoid the defender’s arm. But still, this is a very poor rep from Banks.

The Giants played much more man coverage — and single high coverage in general — later in the season, and Banks did appear more comfortable in those shells than in quarters.

As noted above, Banks’ raw athleticism makes him capable of being extremely sticky in coverage, particularly when he can get in phase early. However, that also brings us to another issue in his game: he doesn’t react quickly enough to cues from wide receivers. Banks doesn’t do a great job of getting his head around or playing receivers hands at the catch point.

I slowed this down to quarter-speed to illustrate the point.

This was from the beginning of the Giants’ Week 3 win over the Cleveland Browns. Banks is in press-man coverage on Amari Cooper at the top of the screen. He’s in good position, stuck right into Cooper’s hip pocket.

Granted, Deshaun Watson made a fantastic throw and Cooper made a very good catch.

However, Banks does a poor job of reading Cooper’s body language and never locates the ball in the air. Likewise, he doesn’t attack the ball or Cooper’s hands at the catch point as he makes the catch.

There are also some instances where Banks seems to get a bit lost on the field.

The Giants start the play by disguising their man coverage by appearing to be in a Cover 4 shell. Banks is in off coverage on Amari Cooper at the bottom of the screen (defensive right). He does a good job of quickly closing on Cooper as the pocket collapses, forcing Watson into a scramble drill. And he initially does a good job of sticking with Cooper in the drill, however he allows Cooper to create room along the sideline. Once Cooper is able to create the space, he’s able to use some subtle footwork to expand the receiving window and complete the scramble drill.

Banks is big and physical enough to squeeze Cooper and use the sideline as an extra defender, but fails to do so.

Finally, the circumstances of Banks becoming a Giant could work against him.

Banks was (now former) defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson’s pick. In November, amid questions regarding Banks’ effort on the field, Henderson told reporters that he was the driving force behind the Giants trading up to draft Banks.

“We have great expectations obviously for Tae. We drafted him in the first round. I personally went to visit him, spent time with him, came back here, talked to Joe [Schoen], talked to Dabs [Brian Daboll] and thought that he and I would do well together,” Henderson said. “I’m as invested in him doing well as anybody.”

Henderson later added that he was the one banging the table on draft night to select Banks. “I raised my hand and said, yes, draft him, I want him, I love him,” Henderson said.

Henderson was fired following the 2024 season, perhaps removing Banks’ biggest supporter on the coaching staff.

Final thoughts

Banks seems almost tailor made to frustrate.

It seems as though that when the spotlight is on him, something bad is happening. And to a certain extent that’s his fault, whether that’s failing to recognize cues from the receiver or being hesitant in driving on the ball.

There are also instances where it isn’t his fault.

Particularly early in the season, there were too many instances when coverages broke down. Banks was forced to use his athleticism to try and make up for the fact that a teammate wasn’t where he was supposed to be. It looked ugly and he would be charged with allowing the reception, but it wasn’t his mistake.

The flip side of the poor plays is that we rarely, if ever, concentrated on the good plays Banks made, or the plays that opposing quarterbacks never attempted. There were multiple times on tape when Banks was in good position and the quarterback was forced to hold the ball and move off his first read.

That will never be a highlight reel play, and rarely be remarked upon unless an astute analyst is breaking down a coverage sack. But those non-plays are also a reason for hope.

The Giants’ coaches can help by putting him in more situations in which he can be physical and aggressive. Continuing to call more aggressive schemes and allowing Banks to play more man coverage should allow him to play faster. Likewise, the additions of Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo should help cut down miscommunications and coverage breakdowns. The additions could also help force offenses to declare their intentions and allow the Giants to be more creative in how they allocate double teams.

Ultimately, Banks’ size and athleticism, as well as his ability to be sticky and force tight windows, are the foundation of a very good cornerback. Whether he breaks out or busts will largely come down to whether he can put it together at the top of routes.