The New York Giants had a productive offseason, making two first-round selections in the 2025 NFL Draft while adding a pair of veteran quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.
The Giants are also poised to have one of the best pass rushes in the NFL, with No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter teaming up with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeuax.
However, one of the most underrated parts of the Giants offseason was the strides they made in the secondary. The Giants signed Jevon Holland to start at safety and added a legit CB1 in Paulson Adebo.
One player in particular could make-or-break the Giants' secondary: Deonte Banks. Banks was a first round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, with the Giants selecting him with the No. 24 overall pick.
Banks had a really promising rookie season, breaking up 11 passes and intercepting two while making 64 tackles, two of which were for-loss.
In 2024, he had an up-and-down campaign, ultimately ending the season with a 50.9 overall Pro Football Focus grade.
ESPN's Ben Solak compiled a list of 100 things to watch and know for the upcoming NFL season, and Banks was one of his "10 names to know," and he singled out Banks as the piece that could make the Giants' secondary one of the best units in the NFL.
"Cornerback is a hard position," Solak writes. "As a rookie in 2023, Banks looked like a rising star... But Banks' sophomore campaign was plagued with mental lapses, unnecessary risks and lost 50-50 balls.
"The Giants hit on their slot corner (Dru Phillips), added a starting safety (Jevon Holland) and snagged a new CB1 in free agency (Paulson Adebo). So a return to 2023 form for Banks could well elevate the Giants' secondary to top-10 levels. And if you start doing the math on a defense with a top-10 pass rush and a top-10 secondary."
Solak also compared Banks to Baltimore Ravens' cornerback Nate Wiggins, writing "Read about Wiggins above and just switch the names."
Solak's assessment of Wiggins:
"He was functionally their CB1. Highly competitive and physical at the line of scrimmage, Wiggins played his best ball against his best opponents (Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Malik Nabers). He wasn't perfect, but rookie corners rarely are. If he plays with greater consistency, he'll be considered one of the league's better starting corners. And the team is banking on that improvement because its outside corner depth behind Wiggins is perilously thin. He needs to be the guy."