Cast-off Giants' draft pick just revived his career in most bizarre possible way

After a promising rookie season, New York Giants fans have been calling for Deonte Banks to be traded or cut for the last two seasons. While it's certainly possible Shane Bowen is to blame for his struggles, it doesn't change the fact that the third-year corner was a complete liability in pass coverage.

Banks was so bad in coverage that the Giants' coaching staff had to experiment with playing him on special teams just to get him on the field. And to the disbelief of fans everywhere, the move actually worked, as the 24-year-old somehow received two Second-Team All-Pro votes as a kick returner.

Instead of Banks, Buffalo's Ray Davis and Dallas' KaVontae Turpin received the All-Pro nominations at kick returner. However, considering that the 2023 first-round pick was starting to receive a draft bust label, he might have found the weirdest possible way to silence the noise and rewrite his narrative.

Deonte Banks may have just convinced Joe Schoen to keep him in New York for another year

Despite fielding just 19 kick returns this season, he made the most of the opportunity. Banks turned those 19 kicks into 622 kick return yards and a 95-yard return touchdown in Week 17, which many Giants fans remember as the moment they officially wouldn't be picking first in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Even though his lone kick return score came against a Raiders team that was actively tanking on a play that put that game away, it doesn't take away from the accomplishment. It marked his first NFL touchdown and made it clear that this was a move the coaching staff should have made way earlier.

Something worth noting is that the Giants haven't done much to set him up for success, as the Maryland product will be playing for his third new defensive coordinator in 2026. He'll likely receive another look at cornerback in a weak secondary, but Cor'Dale Flott took his job as a starting corner.

The Giants traded up for Banks to run Wink Martindale's scheme, so he was never a scheme fit either. His athleticism and ball skills were great in college, but Bowen ruined him and many other players on this defense beyond belief, but luckily, he was able to overcome that because of Mike Kafka.

It was previously expected that Banks would be a popular trade candidate this offseason, joining other Giants' busts like Evan Neal and Jalin Hyatt in the career graveyard. Instead, his path to an NFL future is clear, as he can be a special-teams ace like other elite athletes.