Giants Now: Peter Schrager selects Tae Banks among 2024 breakout players

Peter Schrager selects Tae Banks among 2024 breakout players

Every year, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager releases a list of his 10 breakout players for the upcoming season.

Schrager began to announce the 2024 version of his annual list on Wednesday, where he named Giants cornerback Tae Banks among his favorite breakout players.

“How about Deonte Banks, the Giants’ first-round pick from a year ago, who is expected to make the leap in year number two in a way where we’re talking about him in the same breath as Sauce (Gardner)?” Schrager said on Good Morning Football. “The Giants love this dude. Their No. 1 corner, it’s Year 2. He’s going up against guys like A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin, CeeDee Lamb this season, at least we think, and I think Deonte Banks is ready for that action. 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, 24th overall pick a year ago, 64 tackles, 11 passes defended last season. He’s entering Year No. 2, I think he is a breakout stud.”

Banks was asked to do a lot as a rookie corner. He started 15 games in his first season and was thrown right into the fire against some of the league’s best pass-catchers, as Schrager mentioned in the quote above.

The 23-year-old finished with two interceptions and 11 passes defensed to go with his 64 tackles (53 solo) and two tackles for loss.

Banks also earned a passer rating against of 84.7, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked 24th out of 74 qualified cornerbacks, in addition to allowing a 57.6 completion rate (53 receptions allowed on 92 targets).

Banks’ development could be a big key to the defense. With the addition of Brian Burns to go with Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence, the Giants could have one of the league’s top pass-rushing defensive lines, as the trio combined for 148 total quarterback pressures last season. This talented defensive front should help put Banks in more favorable positions, even against another tough slate of opposing No. 1 receivers.

“Tae is up for the challenge of wanting to prove that he can be a number one corner in this league,” assistant general manager Brandon Brown told the media earlier this week. “He knows that he’s got to earn it and that’s not going to be given to him.”

Banks flashed his athleticism at times throughout his rookie season and again this spring and summer, but in case anyone forgot, he scored an impressive 9.99 RAS at last year’s NFL Combine (out of a possible 10.00). This ranked as the third-best score out of 2,212 cornerbacks from 1987 to 2023, showing that Banks has the ideal size and speed you want from an outside corner.