The New York Giants rough 2024 campaign continued in Week 8, as they suffered a 26-18 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. Among the myriad of issues that the Giants are currently dealing with, head coach Brian Daboll benched starting cornerback Deonte Banks in the second quarter of this game.
Banks, who was the 24th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, has struggled mightily throughout his second season in the league, as opponents are completing a whopping 71.4 percent of passes where he is the closest defender. After the game, Daboll explained his reasoning for benching Banks, implying that the team was not happy with his overall effort, which has been a recurring issue for him throughout the season.
Brian Daboll, Giants not happy with Deonte Banks lack of effort
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Banks’ lack of effort has been an issue that has popped up on several occasions throughout the season, and the straw that seemed to break the camel’s back was when he was hurdled by Steelers running back Najee Harris in this one. With the play taking place in the second quarter, and Banks being benched shortly afterwards, it’s reasonable to believe that was the play in question that ultimately prompted Daboll to make this big decision.
The issue is that New York is already pretty thin at cornerback, as Adoree’ Jackson and Cor’Dale Flott both missed this game with injuries, which forced Greg Stroman Jr. into action, which the team ideally wouldn’t have to do. Daboll has insisted that Banks will be back in the starting lineup when the team takes the field in Week 9 against the Washington Commanders, but the situation with the second-year corner and the team doesn’t appear to be fully resolved yet, making it a storyline to keep an eye on throughout the week.
