JUSTIN: This Giants Starter Could Be the Key to a Top-5 Defense – Scouts Are Buzzing

Deonte Banks Named a Potential X-Factor for Giants’ Defensive Breakout in 2025

The New York Giants’ defense is loaded with talent heading into the 2025 season, featuring stars like Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Bobby Okereke, Jevon Holland, and No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter. Yet, ESPN analyst Benjamin Solak has his eyes on a different name as a possible game-changer: cornerback Deonte Banks.

Solak recently named Banks a “player to watch” who could be the difference-maker in pushing the Giants’ defense into top-10 territory this season—if he can bounce back from a shaky sophomore campaign and return to his impressive rookie form.

As a rookie in 2023, Banks showed major promise, looking like a potential future star. But 2024 was a different story—marked by mental errors, gambles that didn’t pay off, and an inability to win 50-50 matchups. His performance in man coverage dipped, his PFF grade dropped more than seven points, and he failed to record a single interception after grabbing two the year before. His total tackles also declined from 64 to 52.

With the Giants overhauling their secondary this offseason—adding Paulson Adebo at corner, Jevon Holland and Tyler Nubin at safety, and rookie Dru Phillips in the slot—Banks’ rebound could be the missing piece that takes this defense to an elite level.

The front seven is already fierce, with Carter joining Lawrence, Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux to form one of the NFL’s most dangerous pass rushes. But for that pass rush to thrive, the coverage has to hold up—and that’s where Banks comes in.

If he can play like the standout rookie he once was, Banks might just unlock the full potential of this revamped Giants defense in 2025.