Simply being the best option on a team starved for cornerbacks isn’t the bar that the Giants have set for Deonte Banks.
The 2023 first-round draft pick was benched Monday against the Steelers for the cumulative toll of a couple poor effort plays in previous games, some missed tackles and “multiple things and multiple reasons,” defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said.
“We have great expectations for Tae, obviously,” a passionate Henderson said before Friday’s practice. “And just didn’t feel he was — or he has — consistently played up to the expectations the organization has for him, drafting him where he is. So wanted to really get his attention that we expect more.”
Deonte Banks stretches during a recent Giants’ practice. Bill Kostroun/New York PostHenderson, a former NFL defensive back, said he feels a personal investment in Banks after visiting with him pre-draft and telling general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, “Draft him, I want him, I love him” because they could work well together.
“The thing is, he has played really well in spurts,” Henderson said. “But those other six or seven (plays per game) where now, that’s all you’re judged on — those plays when the ball is at me and I have an opportunity to make a play.
“I want to see him in those moments be brighter, be bigger. That’s why we drafted him. That’s what I know he has in him. And I want him to do it consistently and at a high level all the time.”
Banks will start Sunday against the Commanders, head coach Brian Daboll said, so it’s different treatment than the way the Giants buried 2022 first-round pick Evan Neal on the offensive tackle depth chart or quickly gave up on 2021 first-round draft pick Kadarius Toney (traded to the Chiefs).
“It shows their confidence in me,” Banks said.
Henderson indicated that Banks might have been benched after he slowed up instead of tackling Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, but the cornerback depth chart was worn thin by injury. He started against the Steelers because “he gives us the best chance to win” but didn’t respond over 27 snaps quite as strongly as he did when his effort was questioned against the Cowboys and then he shut down Seahawks star DK Metcalf.
George Pickens avoids a tackle from Deonte Banks during the Giants’ Week 8 loss to the Steelers. Getty Images“You never want to do that. Ever, ever, ever,” Henderson said of a benching. “My hope is that he and I look back at this moment one day in the future and see the growth that came from it — and where he goes after this point because of taking something away from him.”
Banks is not the only issue with the Giants defense, where tackling on the back end has gotten sloppy.
But Henderson — a well-respected fourth-year Giants assistant who was up for the defensive coordinator vacancy in the offseason — made it clear that he shares in the blame for Banks’ benching.
“When that happened to him, it happened to me as well,” he said. “We’re tied at the hip. It wasn’t good enough by him and for that reason it wasn’t good enough by me. I expect more out of me.”
Practice-squad elevation Greg Stroman Jr. took Banks’ spot because Cor’Dale Flott, Tre Hawkins and Adoree’ Jackson all were sidelined. Banks said the fixes to his tackling are to “run to the ball more” and “make my angles better.”
“[The message] was received. I just have to do more,” Banks said. “[Henderson] always tells me, ‘It’s all on us. I win, he wins. I lose, he loses.’ We’re a unit. Have to stay together.”
Banks has had some of the best games of his two-year career checking Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin — and a trash-talking rivalry has developed — but McLaurin enters Sunday with four touchdowns and three 100-yard performances in the last six games.
“Hopefully he got the message from the Pittsburgh game and we’ve moved on,” Henderson said. “We’re going to give him a chance to go out and show the player that he is.”
Henderson said it is not uncommon for one player to yell at others on the bench like Dexter Lawrence did to the defensive backs before Banks was pulled. Banks actually broke up a touchdown pass by pushing George Pickens out of bounds on his final snap.
“That wasn’t Tae’s man,” Henderson said. “He actually was making a bonus play. That wasn’t the reason for pulling him. He fell off his coverage to go help and just reacted and became an asset and made a really good play that saved a touchdown for us.”
That’s the bar set for Banks, as the Giants hope he becomes a cornerback capable of consistently defending the NFL’s best.
“He’s had a good week,” Daboll said.
