EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – No matter who or where the Giants are playing this season, the opposing team's best wide receiver will likely have Deonte Banks shadowing him.
Banks, the Giants' first-round draft choice in 2023, is the team's most talented cornerback. As a rookie, he covered outstanding wideouts like Dallas' CeeDee Lamb, Philadelphia's A.J. Brown and the Jets' Garrett Wilson.
"It's fun, I love it," Banks said today after the Giants' second training camp practice. "That's how I want it, really, to be up against the best guy every week."
Nick McCloud, a fourth-year cornerback and third-year Giant who played in all 17 games last season, said that's exactly where Banks should be, in part because he possesses physical attributes that are perfect for the position – and the challenge.
"He's a big guy but he also has the feet of a small guy," McCloud said. "When you got that kind of footwork with that size (6-2 and 200 pounds) and you come to work every day and you're trying to compete, you always going to be special. He plays with a lot of dog in him. That's what I appreciate about Tae because he's probably going to be matched up with the best receiver most weeks."
Banks agrees with McCloud's assessment of his strengths, which he believes give him an advantage.
"I'm a bigger guy, so they think I'm a little slower," Banks said. "But really, I'm moving like a little guy."
View photos from Thursday's practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
DL Dexter Lawrence II (97)
QB Daniel Jones (8), WR Malik Nabers (9)
Mike Kafka Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, WR Malik Nabers (9), QB Daniel Jones (8)
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T Andrew Thomas (78)
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CB Deonte Banks (3), WR Malik Nabers (9)
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CB Deonte Banks (3), WR Malik Nabers (9)
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TE Chris Manhertz (85)
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Markus Kuhn, Jessie Armstead Special Assistant to the General Manager
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Joe Schoen Senior Vice President and General Manager, Brandon Brown Assistant General Manager
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TE Lawrence Cager (83)
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DL D.J. Davidson (98)
TE Daniel Bellinger (82), TE Lawrence Cager (83)
TE Daniel Bellinger (82), TE Lawrence Cager (83)
QB Tommy DeVito (15)
Dennis Hickey Assistant Director of Player Personnel
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G Aaron Stinnie (64), T Andrew Thomas (78), QB Daniel Jones (8), WR Darius Slayton (86), WR Wan'Dale Robinson (17), WR Malik Nabers (9)
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WR Malik Nabers (9)
Ronnie Barnes Senior Vice President, Medical Services/Head Athletic Trainer, Phil Simms
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CB Nick McCloud (44), WR Wan'Dale Robinson (17)
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WR Isaiah Hodgins (18)
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Brian Daboll Head Coach, S Jason Pinnock (27)
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T Andrew Thomas (78)
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Cade Knox Offensive Assistant/Game Manager
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Mike Adams Assistant Secondary Coach
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CB Nick McCloud (44)
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RB Eric Gray (20)
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ILB Bobby Okereke (58)
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QB Drew Lock (2)
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CB Deonte Banks (3)
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CB Deonte Banks (3)
CB Deonte Banks (3)
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (5)
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (5), TE Lawrence Cager (83)
Banks played impressively as a rookie, tying for the team lead with 11 passes defensed, intercepting two passes, and finishing fifth on the team with 64 tackles. He believes his productivity will increase in year two.
"I feel way better," Banks said. "I was always a confident guy, but I feel way more confident. I feel more comfortable. Everything comes to me way easier."
Banks won't have an opportunity to ease into the season. The Giants open at home on Sept. 8 against the Minnesota Vikings, who feature three-time all-pro receiver Justin Jefferson, the 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Jefferson was a three-year star at LSU, so it's fitting that Banks' best prep for that showdown will be his daily practice competition with another former Tiger, Malik Nabers, the sixth selection in this year's draft. The coaches are pitting the Giants' last two No. 1 draft choices against each other in both one-on-one and team drills, which accelerates the development of each player.
"I like competing against Leek (Nabers)," Banks said. "It's really fun. He's good. He's really explosive. Real quick. I like him."
The budding rivalry is not contested silently. Like many players, Banks and Nabers pepper each other with verbal barbs.
"I love it," Banks said. "We are just competing. We talk to each other, and it's really fun. I already knew he was a talker. I'm always talking back. Every time.
"It's just a good matchup; I like it. We're both competing. We have the same body type. Quickness. We are both quick and fast. It's fun."
Although he has played only 15 NFL games (he missed the final two games of the 2023 season with a shoulder injury), Banks has become a leader in the secondary. It's a role he relishes.
"It means a lot," he said. "It means the Giants believe in me, so I got to do it."
Aside from Banks, the Giants' cornerback situation is…fluid. McCloud, Cor'Dale Flott, third-round draft choice Dru Phillips, Darnay Holmes and Tre Hawkins are among those competing for playing time outside or in the nickel spot.
"We got a lot of practices here to kind of figure out whoever rises to the top," coach Brian Daboll said. "Like we've always said, we'll play the best guys.
"We're using a lot of people. We'll go through these practices as we get going through training camp, we'll have better answers for you (regarding who will play). But let all these guys compete it out and play the best ones."
"Everything is competition right now," McCloud said. "We're just coming out here trying to compete, trying to make plays, make plays in the defense. That's the mindset of everybody right now."
McCloud said he is equally comfortable at either position.
"I don't have a preference," McCloud said. "Wherever I'm going to be out there, I'm going to help the team. Playing both gives me more of an opportunity to get on the field, more chance to go out there and have an impact on the defense."
Banks said he enjoys working with the group.
"I like my guys," he said. "They always give me feedback after reps. It's just fun out there."
The key for Banks is to be able to make the same statement after covering some of the NFL's best wide receivers.
View photos from Wednesday's practice as the Giants took the field for the first time at training camp.
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