Breaking Down the Giants First Round Draft Pick, Deonte Banks

With receiver, Jaylin Hyatt, the speedster from Tennessee, still on the board, the New York Giants move up one spot and take Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks with the 24th pick in the first round of the draft.

There was a priority put on defensive backs from the secondary's performance last season. Once the run of four consecutive receivers happened from picks 20-23, the Giants wasted no time making a move. It was clear from their actions that they were high on Banks and wanted to make sure nobody had a chance to slide into pick 24 and snatch him away.

Banks, a 2023 honorable mention All-Big Ten performer, is a corner capable of playing on the boundary or the field side of the defense. He has a great mix of size and strength for the position and excellent speed and athleticism.

Banks has the ability to disrupt receivers on the line of scrimmage with active hands and feet. His agility and foot movement ease him in and out of breaks, which he uses to cover double moves or option routes. He is not perfect.

While he can match releases and run step for step with any speedy receiver, he must learn to read the receiver when he can not locate the ball. He needs to anticipate routes which will help him break faster and make more plays.

It was at the combine that Banks saw his stock skyrocket. He put up numbers that made general managers, coaches, and draft evaluators all stand up and take notice. He ran a 4.35-second forty-yard dash which included a 1.49-second 10-yard split.

Giants Trade Up to Select Deonte Banks in First Round

He then followed that up with a 42-inch vertical jump and a massive 11' 4" broad jump. He has the athletic profile to be a No. 1 corner. In a draft full of elite-level cornerbacks, it says a lot that the Giants had their pick of almost every corner and chose Banks. There were only three corners off the board by the time the draft arrived at pick 24; Christian Gonzales, Emannuel Forbes, and Devno Witherspoon.

This is a Wink Martindale type of cornerback. He should fit perfectly into what the Giants need to excel at doing in a Martindale defense; blitz and blitz and provide good support in the secondary. Expect him to be thrown into the fire immediately to see if he can handle the NFL's pressure cooker of man-to-man defense.

If his confidence is any indicator of his play, then he will have no trouble adapting to a pass-happy NFL. He is best when up close in a receiver's face and press coverage, but he also knows how to play off coverage and break hard on the pass, sometimes showing up right as the ball gets close to the receiver's hands.

His high number of pass breakups (PBUs) is very similar to Giant veteran cornerback Adoree' Jackson, who is most likely to start opposite of him. Watching how Martindale and his staff decided to utilize such a weapon will be fun.

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