{"id":199294,"date":"2024-11-09T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=199294"},"modified":"2024-11-09T14:30:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T19:30:19","slug":"deonte-banks-struggles-are-latest-example-of-giants-miscues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/11\/09\/deonte-banks-struggles-are-latest-example-of-giants-miscues\/","title":{"rendered":"Deonte Banks’ Struggles Are Latest Example of Giants Miscues"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Giants general manager <\/span>Joe Schoen<\/a> <\/span>took several risks<\/span> before<\/span> the 2024-25 NFL season. <\/span>Perhaps the biggest move was not re-signing Saquon Barkley during the off-season<\/span>. <\/span>Unfortunately, <\/span>with the Giants <\/span>record <\/span>at 2-7<\/span>, <\/span>those <\/span>risks <\/span>haven\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pa<\/span>id o<\/span>ff<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Case in point is second-year Giants cornerback Deonte Banks<\/span>. <\/span>Banks showed flashes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>during<\/span> his rookie season. <\/span>Perhaps even <\/span>the potential to be a<\/span> showdown corner.<\/span> But this season <\/span>for the second-year corner <\/span>has been <\/span>a nightmare<\/span>. Deonte <\/span>Banks\u2019 struggles with the Giants<\/span>\u00a0are the latest <\/span>example <\/span>of <\/span>Schoen’s <\/span>miscues.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Banks is Struggling to be a Shutdown Corner<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

When Schoen put together the Giants\u2019 roster in the off-season, he bet big on his offensive and defensive lines. He acquired linebacker Brian Burns to complement defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. He signed veteran offensive linemen to help left tackle Andrew Thomas. The one virtually untouched unit was the secondary.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schoen was hoping promising second-year corner Giants Deonte Banks would step up and lead a very young unit. Gone were veteran safeties Julian Love and Xavier McKinney. Unfortunately for the Giants, the secondary has struggled.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Banks has been exposed against opponents\u2019 No. 1 receivers. In the Giants game against the Washington Commanders<\/a>, Jayden Daniels and wide receiver Terry McLaurin torched Banks for two touchdowns. Corners will get beat but what\u2019s more concerning is Banks\u2019 lack of effort on key plays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the Week 7 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>, Banks failed to tackle quarterback Jalen Hurts on a scramble along the Giants sideline. A week later,\u00a0Banks struggled again and was\u00a0<\/span>benched<\/span><\/a> in Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>. His defensive lapses <\/span>got the attention<\/span><\/a> of his teammates and coaches.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The young corner from Maryland has said all the right things during post-game interviews, but his play has not improved. Banks is not a shutdown corner yet. Another underperforming top draft pick could be Schoen’s undoing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schoen\u2019s Personnel Moves are a Mixed Bag<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

In his two years as general manager, Schoen\u2019s personnel moves are a mixed bag. He\u2019s acquired veteran defensive players who have improved the front seven. Unfortunately, the Giants\u2019 inability to sustain drives, score touchdowns, and porous secondary overshadow any defensive strengths. Plus, Schoen gave up a third-round pick to acquire tight end Darren Waller in 2023. After one unproductive season that ended in injury, Waller retired from the NFL before the start of this season.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, Schoen\u2019s biggest failures are his draft picks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Schoen\u2019s first year as Giants\u2019 GM, he selected Kayvon Thibodeaux<\/a> fifth overall in the first round of the NFL draft. When he\u2019s on the field, Thibodeaux has failed to live up to the expectations of his draft status. But there\u2019s still time for him to improve.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same draft, Schoen selected tackle Evan Neal seventh overall. The front office hoped Neal would\u00a0form a dynamic duo with Andrew Thomas for the next decade. So far, he\u00a0has been a major disappointment and can\u2019t get on the field.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even as the Giants suffered injuries to their offensive line this season, Neal has only played in two games and has not started a game. Unless he miraculously turns his play around, he will be a bust.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Giants are playing a lot of young players from Schoen\u2019s drafts, few have made an impact. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, wide receiver Wan\u2019Dale Robinson is a regular starter but has too many drops to be a legitimate weapon. Biletnikoff award-winning receiver Jalin Hyatt is stuck behind Darius Slayton on the depth chart and rarely gets snaps. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GMs earn their reputation from the play of their draft picks and to this point, Schoen\u2019s picks are a mixed bag.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Future<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

With another losing season almost guaranteed, the Giants need to evaluate their players, coaches, and front office before next season. While head coach Brian Daboll may be the right man for the job, Giants\u2019 ownership must ask themselves, can Schoen evaluate young talent?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the million-dollar question. If the play of Schoen\u2019s top draft picks are indicative of his eye for talent, the answer is no. Changes could be on the horizon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Courtesy of Vincent Carchietta – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The struggles of Giants second-year cornerback Deonte Banks are the latest example of the mixed record under GM Joe Schoen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5259,"featured_media":199302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,20,36],"tags":[4415,32943,4752,9040,92],"class_list":["post-199294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-giants","category-nfl-news","tag-brian-burns","tag-deonte-banksanks","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-kayvon-thibodeaux","tag-new-york-giants"],"modified_by":"Drew VonScio","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}