When the New York Giants selected Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks with the 24th overall selection in this year’s NFL draft, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was so overjoyed he laid an uncharacteristic aggressive hug on general manager Joe Schoen.
In case you missed that exchange, here it is:
MOOOOOOOOOOOD pic.twitter.com/bupcKPC39i
— New York Giants (@Giants) April 28, 2023
That right there displayed how much Martindale loved the pick, knowing he needs physical outside cornerbacks to make his system run.
Banks is a 6-foot-2, 205 pound prospect that will man up against the bigger wideouts in the league. Banks began camp slowly but has been ramping things up the past week.
On Thursday, Martindale updated the media on Banks’ progress.
“I think he’s been great,” Wink said. “It’s one of those things — corners are on the island. You know what I mean? When you see, he’s on the island and this is the NFL. It’s 50/50 on the edge. He still has that mentality that if he gets knocked down nine times, he gets up 10 and doesn’t flinch. (He) listens, learns (and) Rome’s doing a great job with him, (defensive backs coach) Jerome Henderson, and I think both of those young corners have come in here and competed and they’re exciting to watch.”
“Both of those corners?”
Yes, the Giants are crowing about another rookie as well. Old Dominion’s Tre Hawkins III — a 6-foot-3, 195-pound player who the Giants found on Day 3 of the draft that has the team’s training camp buzzing.
“Oh, he’s had a great camp. He’s had a great camp,” Martindale said.
“It’s amazing to me as you go back and you think about the different guys and where they come from. It doesn’t matter where you come from once you get here because the resources and people that they have to work with at this level and the guys that are productive, you can see the confidence just build in them. I really think he’s done a nice job but he’s got a lot of things to work on, just like we all do.”
Hawkins has earned first reps early on in camp and has shown he can both post up on the line as well as cloak speedy wideouts down the field.
