In Round 1 of the 2023 NFL draft, the New York Giants and general manager Joe Schoen packaged a couple of picks and traded them to the Jacksonville Jaguars in order to move up one spot.
With many prospects on their big board getting selected, Schoen knew he had to make a move or risk missing out on some desired talent.
“The way it went down and the way the board fell, we were getting depleted,” Schoen said. “So it was the right thing to do for us. We do a lot of research on team needs, and what people need behind us, and including the team that we traded with. So that was a scenario we put together early in the day if we got there, and we were worried about anybody else coming up to that position. We had something in place with Jacksonville and it worked out.”
After moving up to No. 24 overall, the Giants called the name of Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks.
The supremely athletic Banks was an ideal fit for the Giants, who were in desperate need of a No. 2 cornerback and a potential No. 1 of the future. In fact, Banks to the Giants made so much sense that he predicted it prior to the draft.
If that’s not impressive enough, Banks not only predicted the Giants would draft him but they would trade up to do it.
“The Giants want me bad,” Banks said during the filming of Life of an Athlete. “I’m not going to lie, they want me bad. I met with them like four times.
“I don’t know if I’m going to make it to No. 25. Knowing them, they might trade up for me. That’s how bad I feel like they want me.”
For Banks, the Giants felt like home even before they drafted him.
“It just felt like home for me. When I first got here, they took me out. I went on a visit, and they took me out to dinner. It was really cool. The dinner was really cool. To me it wasn’t real weird. It was real good vibes,” Banks said during his post-draft press conference.
Banks may have grown up a fan of the Baltimore Ravens, but he and the Giants were the perfect match — something he sensed months in advance.
