New York Giants second-year cornerback Deonte Banks has struggled this season. He’s serving as the team’s top cornerback, covering some of the best wide receivers in the NFL through the first four weeks of the season, but failing to hold his own against those premier talents.
During the Giants’ Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Banks surrendered a 55-yard touchdown grab to All-Pro wideout CeeDee Lamb. While it’s a given that cornerbacks will be beaten by Lamb more often than not, that should not prevent any cornerback from trying their best to keep him out of the end zone.
There seemed to be a clear lack of effort from Banks on Lamb’s touchdown grab which sparked complaints from fans and even caused one of the Giants’ coaches to voice his displeasure to the media.
Deonte Banks has been under fire for his lack of effort on CeeDee Lamb’s touchdown
After Lamb beat Banks on a deep route down the left sideline, he began to pull away from the Giants cornerback in a race to the end zone. However, Banks has gotten heat for his lack of effort while chasing Lamb down. He appears to pull up and begin jogging as early as the 24-yard line, essentially letting Lamb run into the end zone uncontested.
Banks seemed to be within a yard of catching Lamb before he decided to start jogging and let the Cowboys’ playmaker score. It was a weird moment for Banks, a young cornerback who has really struggled to find his footing in this league. He surrendered touchdowns in Week 1 and Week 3 as well, including a two-touchdown performance to Cleveland Browns WR Amari Cooper. The Giants’ thin secondary needs better performances and better effort from Banks.
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Giants DBs coach on Banks’s lack of effort: “Didn’t like it”
Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson spoke to the media this week and gave his thoughts on how Banks finished the touchdown-scoring play against the Cowboys:
“Didn’t like it. Liked nothing about it,” Henderson said per Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
“When your man catches a ball, you have to break your legs, figuratively, to get him on the ground. I thought there was room to do more. We expect it from him and he expects it from himself, but in that moment he failed.”
Duggan reports that Henderson said his message has been delivered to Banks and he thinks it was received. The Giants pride themselves on having players who are “smart, tough, and dependable,” and it’s tough for them to feel confident in a player reaching that criteria if said player is giving up halfway through plays.
The Giants selected Banks in the first round of last year’s draft and have had high expectations for him to develop into a premier top cornerback. Unfortunately, his talent and potential have not been realized just yet. However, Banks is still a young, developing player with the tools to be a successful cornerback in the NFL. It takes time to grow into a shutdown cornerback, but that growth will be stunted by a lack of effort.
