Player

Deonte Banks

DB · Giants

Tackle rate is a proxy for how much a corner is trusted to anchor his side of the field — declining volume in the same game count signals the defense is routing the ball away from Banks, or that the team's confidence in his open-field role is eroding.

FanIQ Research · May 12, 2026 · 5 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Banks tackled 3.4 times per game in 2023 — every year since, that number has dropped, and now sits at 1.6.

Trend

Tackles per game — Banks vs. 2023 first-round CB peers

Player	T/G 2023	T/G 2024	T/G 2025
Deonte Banks	3.4 (51/15g)	2.4 (34/14g)	1.6 (23/14g)
Devon Witherspoon	3.4 (48/14g)	3.4 (58/17g)	4.0 (48/12g)
Joey Porter Jr.	1.8 (29/16g)	3.1 (50/16g)	2.4 (34/14g)

Banks led his full-season 2023 rookie CB peers in tackles per game — 51 tackles in 15 games (3.4/G) — then dropped to 34 in 14 games (2.4/G) in Year 2 and bottomed at 23 in 14 games (1.6/G) in Year 3. The contrast with Devon Witherspoon is stark: Witherspoon held flat (3.4 → 3.4 → 4.0) while Joey Porter Jr. (Round 2) nearly doubled his rate from Year 1 to Year 2 (1.8 → 3.1). Banks is the only player in this cohort who has gotten further from the ball each consecutive season.

Why it matters. Tackle rate is a proxy for how much a corner is trusted to anchor his side of the field — declining volume in the same game count signals the defense is routing the ball away from Banks, or that the team's confidence in his open-field role is eroding.

3 years in, Banks ranks 6th in his own draft class in career PDs — behind 5 of his 2023 rookie classmates.

Comparison

2023 rookie CB class — career PDs through 2025 (regular season)

Player	Pick	Career PDs	Career Tackles
Tyrique Stevenson	56	38	136
Brian Branch	45	38	162
Devon Witherspoon	5	32	154
Emmanuel Forbes	16	31	68
Joey Porter Jr.	32	31	113
Deonte Banks	24	28	108
Christian Gonzalez	17	24	112

Banks was the 4th cornerback taken in the 2023 first round (pick 24, behind Witherspoon at 5, Forbes at 16, and Gonzalez at 17), but through 3 seasons he ranks 6th in career pass defenses among his classmates. Stevenson (pick 56) and Branch (pick 45) — both taken in the 2nd round — have each posted 38 PDs to Banks' 28. Even Forbes (pick 16), who was released mid-career, sits ahead at 31.

Why it matters. Draft slot carries an implicit expectation — a pick-24 first-rounder should outperform 2nd-round picks in production. When those later-picked players in the same class lead the group in PDs, it signals the team paid a premium they haven't gotten back yet.

Both of Banks' career interceptions came in 2023 — he has gone 2 full seasons since his last takeaway.

Anomaly

Banks interceptions by season (regular season)

Season	INTs	Pass Defenses
2023	2	11
2024	0	12
2025	0	5

Banks picked off Sam Howell in Week 7 and Mac Jones in Week 12 of his rookie year, looking every bit the ballhawking outside corner the Giants drafted. Then nothing. 0 interceptions over the next 2 seasons across 17 combined PDs. For context, his classmate Joey Porter Jr. has 4 career INTs in the same span. A corner who can't convert pass defenses into takeaways becomes a non-factor in the turnover battle.

Why it matters. Interceptions are the most direct way a corner changes field position and momentum — a CB with 17 PDs over two seasons and 0 INTs is essentially a neutralizer, not a playmaker. The Giants' defensive turnaround depends on someone forcing turnovers.

Among 2021-2023 first-round DBs with 20+ career PDs, Banks and Forbes are the only two with zero career sacks or QB hits.

Split

First-round DBs (2021-2023, 20+ career PDs) — pass-rush production

Player	Draft Year	Pick	PDs	Sacks	QB Hits
Pat Surtain II	2021	9	59	0	1
Derek Stingley Jr.	2022	3	51	1	0
Sauce Gardner	2022	4	50	1	2
Greg Newsome II	2021	26	43	2	2
Kyle Hamilton	2022	14	36	8	19
Jaycee Horn	2021	8	34	2	3
Trent McDuffie	2022	21	34	6	15
Devon Witherspoon	2023	5	32	5	9
Emmanuel Forbes	2023	16	31	0	0
Deonte Banks	2023	24	28	0	0
Christian Gonzalez	2023	17	24	1	2
Daxton Hill	2022	31	24	3	7

Of the 12 first-round DBs from 2021–2023 who have reached 20+ career pass defenses, Banks and Forbes are the only two with zero sacks and zero QB hits. Every other player in the cohort — including Gonzalez (1 sack, 2 QB hits) and Hamilton (8 sacks, 19 QB hits) — has contributed at least once as a pass rusher. The absence of any blitz-package production over three full seasons means Banks generates no disruption beyond pure coverage, a limiting profile in a league that increasingly values two-way corner utility.

Why it matters. Zero pass-rush production is the tell: it means the Giants have never deployed Banks in a pressure package. Kyle Hamilton (8 sacks, 19 QB hits from the same draft era) shows what a DB used in multiple roles looks like — Banks has none of that, constraining the defense to using him only in drop coverage.

Porter Jr. has passed Banks in career PDs — 31 to 28 — and lapped him entirely in interceptions: 4 to 2.

Milestone

Banks vs. Porter Jr. — head-to-head through 2025 (regular season)

Stat	Banks (pick 24)	Porter Jr. (pick 32)
Career PDs	28	31
Career INTs	2	4
Career Tackles	108	113
2025 PDs	5	14

When Banks and Porter Jr. entered the league in 2023, Banks was the 1st-round pick (pick 24) while Porter Jr. came off the board as the first pick of Round 2 (pick 32 overall). Banks had the edge in draft capital — a full round higher. Through Year 2, Banks was winning the head-to-head: 23 PDs to Porter's 17. But 2025 erased it entirely: Porter Jr. posted 14 PDs (his best season) while Banks managed just 5. That one season flipped a 6-PD Banks lead into a 3-PD deficit, and the interception gap — 4 to 2 — completes the story of which pick delivered on its draft slot.

Why it matters. Draft capital is a finite resource, and when a 1st-round pick underperforms a 2nd-round pick from the same class, it quantifies the premium the team paid. Banks was ahead entering Year 3 — the regression is not a slow drift but a single-season collapse that the Giants cannot explain away.

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