New York Giants second-year cornerback Deonte Banks is ready to take his place among the elite at his position in the NFL.
After a rookie season that saw him start off slowly, Banks turned it on in the latter part of the season and began to display his first-round pedigree.
“Banks is going to be a really good corner in this league,” head coach Brian Daboll said after the Giants’ concluded their 6-11 2023 season.
“Tae Banks, with rare physical ability, and as he continues to grow and mature; what he did against some of the very good receivers in this league as a rookie, I thought was pretty impressive.”
Banks will settle in as the Giants’ No. 1 corner this summer at training camp, which begins this week. The former Maryland star, who the Giants selected with the 24th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, certainly isn’t short on confidence.
Banks was recently asked by the New York Post’s Steve Serby who he thought the best corners in the game were right now. He wasn’t exactly modest in his response.
“I really haven’t showed it yet, but it’ll be Tae Banks this year. But so far, I really like Pat Surtain a lot … technique, footwork … I like him,” he said.
Banks went on to mention the Jets’ Sauce Gardner as another player who excels at corner but then backed off a bit to concentrate on what his plans are to join them in the elite class.
“I don’t really like comparing myself to other people like that too much. But like, I’m gonna be one of the best corners in this league,” he said.
The Giants hope he’s right. Many felt they reached for Banks last year. Few experts saw Banks as s first-rounder, but the Giants were zoned in on him, even trading up in the order to make sure they got him.
“He’s a prototype from a size standpoint. He’s athletic. He’s physical,” general manager Joe Schoen said last year when quizzed on why the Giants traded up one spot to get Banks.
“He can run. He ran 4.32 at the Combine. He has arm length, big hands. He’s been a four-year starter. He was hurt a year ago but he has played a lot of ball there at Maryland and schematically, he’s a good fit. And we spent a lot of time with him. Met with him at the Combine. He’s a guy that, you know, we went down to the pro day, and we spent a good amount of time with him, and again we felt comfortable with him.”
They still do. The Giants are hanging a lot of their defensive hopes on Banks, and he is fairly sure he will reward them with a solid season and career.
“The best, one of the best, whatever you want to call it, ’cause everybody got different rankings,” Banks said when asked where he intends to be on the list of NFL cornerbacks.
The Giants hope he gets there.
