The New York Giants upgraded at cornerback this offseason, signing Paulson Adebo to a three-year, $54 million contract in free agency. He will step in and be Big Blue’s No. 1 cornerback, paving the way for Deonte Banks to step back into a CB2 role in the third season of his career.
Generally, when playing the No. 2 cornerback role, the cornerback should face easier competition than they would in the primary spot. However, Banks is still set to face a gauntlet of top-tier wide receiver talent in this upcoming make-or-break season.
This will be a crucial season for Deonte Banks
Banks is entering the third season of his career with plenty of pressure on his shoulders. The Giants drafted him in the first round in 2023, and Banks flashed promise as a rookie. However, he took a major step backward once he moved into a CB1 role in 2024.
Now moving back into the CB2 role, there is hope that Banks can get back on track and improve his play. The Giants will need him to improve if they want to have a fair shot at winning games this season. They also would like to see a solid return on their first-round investment from a few years ago.
However, despite Banks moving to face WR2s instead of WR1s, he is still going to have to deal with a tremendous amount of talent lined up on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
The Giants face plenty of elite wide receivers this season
Much has been made about the difficulty of the Giants’ 2025 schedule. They face a lot of playoff-caliber teams this season, and a common denominator for many of those teams is wide receiver talent.
In this modern NFL, it’s not enough for an offense to have just one great receiver. Many of the top offenses have two threatening playmakers out wide. As a result, Banks is not much better off moving into the CB2 role. He will still be challenged with many of his primary assignments.
Banks is projected to face six receivers who have gone over 1,000 yards in a single season before (Deebo Samuel of the Washington Commanders in Week 1 and Week 15, George Pickens of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 and Week 18, Hollywood Brown of the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, Brandin Cooks of the New Orleans Saints in Week 5, DeVonta Smith of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6 and Week 8, and Jameson Williams of the Detroit Lions in Week 12).
His projected matchups are still highly challenging despite primarily covering the No. 2 option for the opposing teams. Having Adebo on the opposite side of the lineup should help take pressure off Banks’s shoulders, but the third-year Maryland product still has a gauntlet ahead of him in 2025.
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