Giants 2025 Cornerbacks Position Review: Still a Long Way to Go as a Unit

Right from the get-go, there was reason to be concerned about the New York Giants cornerbacks group.

After landing Paulson Adebo in free agency, the first hint of instability was that the team launched a full-scale competition for the other cornerback spot between 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks and 2022 third-round pick Cor’Dale Flott. Flott, to his credit, outplayed Banks at every turn; the one negative was that Flott continued to have some nicks and bruises that caused him to miss snaps.

The sad thing is that Banks has talent, but whether it’s just a frustration with the system or a lack of confidence, that talent wasn’t always on display. So that left the Giants with what we see as yet another need that needs to be addressed.

Let’s jump into this year’s group.

Paulson Adebo

The Giants signed Adebo in the offseason to become their CB1. The 26-year-old was coming off a broken femur, but appeared to be at full health when the season started.

Adebo took on the task of covering the opponent’s best wideout every week, and though he gave up plenty of the underneath stuff, he seemed adamant not to get beaten deep.

A knee injury forced him to miss five games and slowed him down when he returned in December. Before the injury, Adebo was racking up healthy tackle numbers, though he would never be mistaken for being a physical player.

The team expected a bigger impact from their big free-agent signing, but it never happened. He broke up eight passes, intercepted one, and finished with 73 tackles.

Adebo hasn’t played a full season since his rookie year. He needs to find a way to stay on the field. He’s got three more years on a contract that pays him like a top corner.

Cor’Dale Flott

Flott had his career year this year, firmly settling into the CB2 role and playing lots of sticky coverage vs. the opponent’s No. 2 receiver.

One of the highlights of this lost season was Flott’s 4Q 68-yard interception return that helped seal the Eagles' win in Week 6. Flott started 14 games, had 11 pass breakups, and pitched in with 38 tackles.

The stick-thin Flott will always be at a disadvantage against physical receivers and tackling. He plays the game aggressively enough, but he lacks the physical goods to back it up.

Another pending free agent, Flott, is a must-sign. He’s still very young at 24, he’s a legit CB2, he can really run, and he plays the game the right way.

Dru Phillips

Another youngster who plays the game the right way, Phillips is the only corner with a physical component to his game.

Sometimes this kid is too aggressive for his own good, which is when he misses tackles. However, this slot corner’s big plays come in downhill mode; he also reacts to things instinctively.

He still has work to do in coverage, as he tends to get too grabby and doesn’t always trust his feet. We love watching this kid play the game–nobody plays wide receiver screens better than him.

Phillips has a great tackling technique and plays with courage and toughness; he needs to play a touch smarter in coverage.

On passing downs, the coaches lined him up at times at ILB because his reads and fills were so quick and physical. He plays much bigger than his size.

Another 24-year-old whose game should only get better with experience, Phillips led the team with 12 pass breakups, he intercepted two balls, and had 66 total tackles.

Phillips played in all 17 games and has the look of a third-round steal, if only the coaches would just play him more.

Deonte Banks

We’ve rarely come across any NFL player with less instinct for the game. Banks has proven time and time again that he cannot be trusted to fill a full-time role.

Teams salivated when they saw him lining up at the corner because it was so easy to attack him in a variety of ways. Run at him, and he simply cannot read a play, invariably backing off and choosing not to get involved.

Throw at him, and he can stay with most receivers, but he simply cannot play the ball. The word to best describe him is “frustrating.”

Below the neck, Banks has it all: size, speed, athleticism. It’s all the stuff above the neck that defeats him. Simplify his game, and he might be able to contribute, but never trust him with a full-time role.

Another youngster at 24, Banks will be kept around for the last two years of his contract because you don’t give up on talent.

He will be a depth corner and on kickoff returns, which is where he seems to have found his niche.

Banks’ 95-yard Week 18 kickoff return was the best special teams play of the year. The cornerback position is perhaps the toughest one to play in football.

Too bad that a youngster with all the tools to excel at it has so little instinct for it.

Korie Black

A seventh-round pick this year, Black was waived on cutdown day and then snatched off the Jets’ practice squad in October when injuries hit the corner position.

Black played in nine games, starting two, and showed a talent for defending the deep ball. He seemed like the only Giants defensive back who seemed capable of knowing how and when to turn around to look for the ball.

Alas, Black was also the least physical of all the DB’s, which is saying a lot with this group. He needs to get bigger and tougher this off-season.

Black has some height and good speed, but the physical aspect needs to improve. He has two years left on his rookie contract, so he has time to grow into his body and the position.

Art Green

The team’s best gunner when healthy, Green lost five games to a mid-season hamstring injury. Nobody on the roster was in Green’s class at Gunner; he also contributed on kickoffs.

Big and fast and physical, it’s too bad that Green can’t master some of the aspects of the corner position.

He’s got all the measurables, but lacks the quicks and loose-hipped agility that the position requires. A true enforcer on specials and a pending free agent, we would have a tough time if the Giants do not re-sign him.

Rico Payton

A 26-year-old corner with size, Payton played in the team’s final nine games at both gunner and zone corner.

His size was an asset, as he held up to the physical demands, but his agility and athleticism didn’t seem NFL-quality.

Payton’s got two years left on his contract, so expect to see him in the summer competing for a spot.

Nic Jones

This 24-year-old depth corner also played a lot of snaps at gunner, where he did not make a difference.

Jones was able to finish tackles thanks to his good size, but the average athleticism and lack of quick-twitch in his lower half led to several missed tackles that hurt.

Jones did suit up for 13 games and is a pending free agent. We suspect that the Giants are going to move on from him.

Jarrick Bernard-Converse

This well-built 25-year-old depth corner (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) was signed to the roster from the practice squad at the end of the year, leading one to believe that the Giants liked him enough to protect him from being poached.

A former sixth-round pick of the Jets, the Giants are already Bernard-Converse’s third team. He suited up in five games with the Giants and recorded 4 tackles.

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