Who Is Deonte Banks?
Deonte Banks is a 6’2 205 pound cornerback out of the University of Maryland. He is a homegrown product as he is from Baltimore, Maryland. Before committing to the Maryland Terrapins, he was a All-County player at Edgewood High School in Baltimore. The redshirt junior has made a name for himself as he hopes to get drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday April 27.
Freshman Year (2019)
As a true freshman, Banks played in nine games and started his last eight where he had 28 total tackles, an interception, and two passes defended. This was a good start to what looked like a solid career for him.
Sophomore Year (2020)
Due to COVID-19 and the pandemic, Maryland only had five games in which he played in all of them. In the shortened season, he had 11 total tackles and a pass defended.
Junior Year (2021)
This was a shortened season for Banks as he only played in two games due to missing the rest of the season with a shoulder injury as he had just six total tackles. His NFL hopes were looking slim unless he can have a tremendous redshirt junior season.
Redshirt Junior Season (2022)
That tremendous season is exactly what he had as he had 38 total tackles, an interception, and eight passes defended.
Pros About His Game
For starters, he has great size to be a cornerback at the NFL position at 6’2 and 2o5 allows him to be able to matchup with most cornerbacks in the league. He also has great IQ to be able to stay with the receiver and even make a play on the ball forcing the receiver to have to try and make a difficult play or quickly change his positioning to either run vertical or break downhill. Also, he is very confident in his physicality as he will not shy away from playing press coverage.
Cons About His Game
However, some concerns about his game is his injury concerns as he missed almost a whole season his junior year due to a shoulder issue. Who knows how that shoulder will hold up or if will be a consistent issue.
Also, Banks tend to be inconsistent at times in the passing game as he is overly physical and tends to grab defenders resulting in pass interference penalties. Those can be costly as those calls are spot-foul penalties in the NFL as opposed to 15-yard penalties in college. Or he tries to make a play on the ball by jumping passes but he leaves himself vulnerable to double moves resulting in big plays.
Balled Out At The Combine
Before the Combine, Banks was viewed as a second-round as the 11th cornerback in the draft class. However, at the combine he balled out with a 4.35 40-yard-dash, 42″ vertical jump, and a 11’4″ broad jump. Deonte Banks looks to be the first Terrapin drafted in the first round since Darnell Savage Jr. in 2019.
Ideal Team Fits
Since the Combine, he has been viewed as a first-round pick and ranked as cornerback ranging from three to six. Some great fits for Banks are the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Vikings defense was abysmal last season and they just lost Patrick Peterson to the Pittsburgh Steelers so they could use someone like Banks.
The Eagles could also use Banks as they lost C.J. Gardner-Johnson who signed with the Detroit Lions and have veteran cornerbacks in Darius Slay and James Bradberry.
However, another team that could select Banks is the New York Giants. With the loss of Bradberry, the Giants need a solid second cornerback to compliment Adoree’ Jackson.
