Will Tae Banks be an asset or an afterthought for New York Giants?

EAST RUTHERFORD – Somewhere between inconsistency and fleeting confidence, New York Giants cornerback Tae Banks lost his way.

Maybe it was attitude, a lack of conviction in his technique or a coaching failure within a defensive system that did not fit his talents as someone who lived and died in press man coverage.

What’s most likely: all of that contributed to where Banks is now, which is in NFL limbo after the Giants brought in John Harbaugh and essentially cleared the decks of both the roster in its entirety and the depth chart, especially in the secondary.

Free agent signee Greg Newsome and rookie second-round pick Colton Hood are challenging for the starting spot opposite Paulson Adebo. Ar’Darius Washington is pushing as the third safety as well as in the slot where Dru Phillips is also hoping to have a bit of a resurgence under the new coaching regime.

So where does that leave Banks, the Giants’ 2023 first round pick whose only flashes of success on the team a year ago came as a kick returner late in the season?

Even as the Giants approach the end of their offseason program with minicamp practices set for this week, it’s too soon to tell.

“I remember evaluating him coming out. He’s a Maryland Terp and I’m a Maryland Terp. I had just a little bit of background with him,” Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said of Banks back in April. “He’s a talented player. He’s big. He can run. He brings an element of physicality, but he’s had an up-and-down career thus far. For us, it’s coming in with a clean slate. That’s everybody on this defense. No matter what has been done in the past, where they were drafted, how they were acquired, we’re coming in here as a clean slate, we’re trying to evaluate the players, see what they do well, and we’re trying to teach them our way of football.”

No one can be certain if what we are watching from Banks is just the final days of another failed first-round pick, a countdown to the end of his time here, or the start of a reclamation project that somehow changes the trajectory – more fitting a spiral – of his career.

The evaluation of Banks as an asset or an afterthought is playing out in real time, and truth be told, it’s hard not to go back to the guarantee made by Banks himself following the 2023 campaign, his first.

“I always knew I belonged in the league and I think I showed that. Now it’s time to prove I can be great,” Banks told NorthJersey.com and The Record after his rookie year. “I’m going for All-Pro. I ain’t missing another Pro Bowl list. Next year, my name’s gonna be on it.”

Now 25 years old, Banks has failed to live up to that promise. His time here has been defined by questions of “what might have been” had Wink Martindale found a way to co-exist with Brian Daboll as well as “what the heck happened” to the former Maryland star who earned his draft pedigree by refusing to back down from any and all challenges.

The scouting report of Banks entering the league was certainly positive. He has a compact frame (now listed at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds) with above-average length, and his short-area quickness was elite. He was physical and instinctive, too, and the raw talent – size, speed and ability to change directions – was noticeable.

Where did that player go? It’s hard to say, and whether that player even exists anymore is what falls on the Giants as Harbaugh and Wilson – and position coaches Donald D’Alesio and Addison Lynch – to find out.

As a rookie, Banks was fueled by his competition against the best. Those battles produced wins and losses on the field, and how Banks responded down to down was most impressive. In what was a lost season in the standings, his presence and the growth in his game was an encouraging bright spot. He finished two interceptions and 11 passes defensed, second-most by a rookie in Giants franchise history.

Banks was ultimately benched in Years 2 and 3, dogged by criticism of his work ethic and an apparent refusal to engage in the run game, leading to glaring mistakes when breaking down the tape. The Giants declined his fifth-year option – there really was no other choice – so Banks’ rookie contract is set to expire at the end of the 2026 campaign.

In recent practices, Banks has rotated in for snaps with the first-team defense, either for Adebo or Newsome. He had pass breakups on deep shots to Darnell Mooney and Odell Beckham Jr., plays on which he showed the level of aggressiveness that had disappeared from his game last season.

“He hasn’t played that great. He’d tell you that,” Harbaugh said when asked about Banks recently. “But is he capable of playing a lot better? I think he is.”

What that means for the future of Tae Banks with the Giants remains to be seen.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Will Tae Banks be an asset or an afterthought for New York Giants?