Banks, who prefers to be called Tae (Tay), joins a cast of cornerbacks that includes standout veteran Adoree’ Jackson, as well as Cor’Dale Flott, Rodarius Williams, Nick McCloud, Darnay Holmes and Aaron Robinson.
“You can never have enough good corners,” coach Brian Daboll said. “This is a passing league. We have a tough division and Tae, he’s a tall, lengthy, press, man-to-man corner who we had graded high, and happy we have him.”
The Giants’ NFC East rivals all employ outstanding wide receivers, including Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb and Washington’s Terry McLaurin. In 2022, that foursome combined to catch 287 passes for 5,242 yards and 32 touchdowns.
“I think of competing,” Banks said when asked his thoughts about covering the division’s elite wideouts. “Competing and competing.”
He does not consider himself a lockdown, No. 1 cornerback simply because he’s a first-round choice.
“It’s something I got to get to,” he said. “I’ve got to get my foot in the door first.”
Banks’ pre-NFL career did not steadily ascend. He was a two-way player at Edgewood High School in Maryland, where he earned all-state and all-country honors. But Banks described the school in an unusual manner.
“The high school I came from, is not really a high school, like, that people know that,” he said. “The teams that I’ve been to, I’ve talked to a lot of coaches and coaches still don’t know the school I went to. I feel like I beat the odds.”
His early college offers came from the likes of Division II Seton Hill, FCS schools Elon and Monmouth and MAC schools Buffalo and Kent State. When Maryland – the only Power 5 school to express serious interest – offered him an opportunity stay close to home and play in the Big Ten, Banks didn’t hesitate.
Though others didn’t project him as a future NFL player – much less a first-round draft choice – Banks was confident he would be a pro.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “I was always working hard, and I always had dedication to my sport. I feel like once I put my mind to anything, I can do it. … After I signed my NLI, my national letter of intent, I felt like it was always close.”
So close, yet far away. Banks played in 11 games with eight starts as a freshman in 2019. In the next two seasons combined he played in only seven games, starting five. As a junior in 2021, he started the first two games but tore his labrum and missed the remainder of the season.
“It was really tough,” he said. “Football is really my…
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