{"id":280089,"date":"2026-06-27T21:53:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280089\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T21:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:53:20","slug":"new-york-giants-deonte-banks-making-most-of-his-clean-slate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280089\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Giants’ Deonte Banks making most of his ‘clean slate’"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 27, 2026, 10:37 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

One of the things New York Giants<\/a> fans are learning about new head coach John Harbaugh is that he never gives up and gives his players every possible chance to succeed.<\/p>\n

Harabaugh, upon reviewing the roster, told reporters early on that everyone would be getting a fresh look under his tenure. A “clean slate,” he called it.<\/p>\n

Several players have already been rescued from the scrap heap, including offensive linemen Evan Neal and Joshua Ezeudu, and other high picks, such as wide receiver Jalin Hyatt and cornerback Deonte Banks, are getting second looks after playing their way into the doghouse under the previous coaching staff.<\/p>\n

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Banks is a former 2023 first-round pick who not only went off track in his performance but also had his desire to play questioned by teammates and coaches. The Giants chose not to exercise Banks’ fifth-year option, meaning he’s in the final year of his rookie contract in 2026. It’s now or never for him.<\/p>\n

The new coaching staff doesn’t seem to care about Banks’ past. All they see is a 25-year-old, able-bodied young man with all the tools to become a top NFL cornerback.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe has the intangibles,” Giants first-year defensive backs coach Addison Lynch told the New York Post<\/a>. \u201cYou see it in his body. He\u2019s big, he\u2019s fast, he can tackle, he can jump, he can catch. So it\u2019s my job to put him in the best positions to be able to bring those intangibles out all the time. Mama and daddy gave him a lot of skills, so my job is to make mama and daddy\u2019s skill set shine on the field on Sundays.”<\/p>\n

New defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson is also willing to give Banks his shot in a suddenly crowded cornerback room. Banks is no longer listed as a starter. He’s behind Paulson Adebo, Greg Newsome III, and rookie Colton Hood on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I know Banks,” Wilson said. \u201cI remember evaluating him coming out. He\u2019s a Maryland Terp, and I\u2019m a Maryland Terp. I had just a little bit of background with him. He\u2019s a talented player. He\u2019s big. He can run. He brings an element of physicality, but he\u2019s had an up-and-down career thus far.”Harbaugh said earlier this spring that he knows that Banks had had issues and “hasn’t played that great.”<\/p>\n

\u201cBut is he capable of playing a lot better? I think he is,\u2019\u2019 Harbaugh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Banks still has a ways to go to get back into the good graces of fans and some of his teammates. It’s hard for them to erase the image of him shying away from tackles and blowing key coverage assignments, leading to big plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to show him that his consistency was his deal,” Lynch said. \u201cHe just wasn\u2019t consistent getting lined up fast, wasn\u2019t consistent with his feet. He\u2019s improved his consistency, so now his play is improved, now his confidence is up and he can just roll into the season.”<\/p>\n

Lynch believes Banks is putting all of his issues behind him. The coaching change and perhaps the uncertainty of what may lie beyond this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love how he\u2019s handling it,” Lynch said. \u201cRight now, he\u2019s being an absolute pro. He\u2019s doing the extra work, he\u2019s in his book, he\u2019s doing everything we ask him. He\u2019s making plays on the ball and he\u2019s doing a really good job handling himself play in and play out. He\u2019s made major improvements that when he\u2019s tired, he relies on his technique and he\u2019s getting more technical sound, so everything with him is trending in the right direction.”<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"June 27, 2026, 10:37 a.m. ET One of the things New York Giants fans are learning about new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[679,9,11,10,87161,1941,1942,948,7945,930,947,1328,949,682],"class_list":["post-280089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-accessfree","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-sourcegiants-wire","tag-sstssportsnflgiants","tag-sstsngiants","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagdeonte-banks","tag-tagnew-york-giants","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}