If the New York Giants hope to salvage a key defensive starter who cost them a first-round pick in the NFL draft, they will need to change their scheme. At least by mixing things up more often.
Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen can add variety and help cornerback Deonte Banks get back on track. That’s according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who believes “Banks’ warts showed in Shane Bowen’s more complicated zone defenses last season. The scheme change combined with the challenge of covering opponents’ No. 1 receivers led to a disastrous second season that Banks compounded with effort lapses.”
Duggan pointed out how the Giants are hopeful this offseason’s pricey, but still underrated arrival in free agency, cover corner Paulson Adebo, “helps alleviate some pressure for Banks,” but it won’t be enough.
Not when Duggan also thinks “Bowen will need to mix in more man coverage to get the best out of Banks.”
Doing so would go against the grain for zone-heavy play-caller Bowen. Yet, it would make amends for the Giants ignoring a pre-draft warning about the 24th pick in 2023.
Giants Forgot Deonte Banks Warning
The Giants paid a heavy price for forgetting what Duggan dubbed, “concerns league sources expressed to The Athletic about the first-round pick during the 2023 pre-draft process.”
Those concerns related to the former Maryland standout being “viewed strictly as a man corner by an executive and a coach from different teams. The executive cautioned putting too much on Banks’ plate, while the coach echoed that Banks would be best suited for a simple man-heavy defense.”
As Duggan explained, “that made Banks a good fit as a rookie for former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s system.” Bowen’s predecessor Martindale ran a defense based on elaborate and relentless blitzing up front, laced with man-heavy coverage on the back end.
It was a risky, albeit entertaining, way for the Giants to travel defensively, but Bowen was hired to install something more cautious and opponent-specific. The caution was personified by safer, zone-based coverage calls, allowing corners to backpedal and keep receivers in front of them, while also maintaining eyes on the quarterback.
Those things sound like a boost for any cover man, but there were other priorities Banks struggled to handle. Factors such as angles, spatial awareness and passing receivers off to teammates operating in different zones.
This 55-yard touchdown he surrendered to CeeDee Lamb against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4, revealed the problems Banks was having. The play, illustrated by Next Gen Stats, showed Banks (3) letting Lamb win outside too easily because the DB played inside leverage, despite having inside help deep from safety Tyler Nubin (31).
Taking away the flat and other out-breaking routes is usually the primary focus for the underneath defender in bracket coverage. Banks made an elementary mistake, but a poor scheme fit doesn’t explain all of his struggles.
Giants Need More from Deonte Banks
They can alter the playbook, but the Giants have the right to expect more from Banks, and not just because of his first-round status. The 24-year-old has been guilty of a lack of effort on the field, most notably against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.
Duggan highlighted the infamous moment, along with “the reaction from DB coach Jerome Henderson (white long sleeve shirt), who had already called out Banks for a lack of hustle earlier this season.”
That incident earned Banks a spot on the bench, but even when he was on the field, there were obvious flaws in his game that had nothing to do with hustle. Instead, they were a matter of technique.
Those flaws were exploited and explained by another NFC East rival, Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin. He burned Banks for two touchdowns in Week 9 and revealed how one of those scores was informed by film study of the Giants’ starter’s predictable and poor habits.
McLaurin revealed to Sam Fortier of The Washington Post, “I knew Banks liked to really slow play routes in the red zone. He likes to kind of, no pun intended, Bank inside, he takes inside leverage. I knew he was playing a little head-up on that route.”
Watching “the Cleveland game when Amari Cooper kind of him rocked him a little bit” also helped McLaurin beat Banks along the goal-line. McLaurin pointed out Banks is “not really aggressive in the red zone, for whatever reason.”
The word is out on what Banks doesn’t do on the field. Worse still for the Giants, their divisional opponents are collectively feasting on the player who is supposed to be their No. 1 corner.
It’s going to take more than a tweak to the X’s and O’s for Banks to avoid draft bust status.
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