Deonte Banks has grabbed plenty of the spotlight during the Giants’ 5-2-1 start, and for good reason. The former first-round pick has gone from looking lost to looking like a legitimate starting cornerback, capped by a game-sealing 98-yard pick-six against the Arizona Cardinals. Through six games, he’s also piled up 10 passes defended.
After the last two seasons, Banks has earned the praise. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has clearly helped revive him, and the idea of declining his fifth-year option no longer looks as straightforward as it did a few months ago.
But Banks’ turnaround is only part of the story in New York’s secondary. While the attention has followed him, Dru Phillips has been putting together an even better season, and the numbers back it up.
A chart from Doug Analytics that measures how often corners are targeted against their catch rate over expected paints a pretty clear picture. It shows which defensive backs are getting attacked and which ones are making quarterbacks pay for it. Phillips lands near the top-right of that chart, right alongside some of the league’s best cover corners.
The Giants’ slot corner has been targeted on about 14.2% of his coverage snaps and owns a minus-14% catch rate over expected. Only four qualifying corners on the chart have been better in that category. That puts him ahead of names like Derek Stingley Jr., Denzel Ward, Patrick Surtain II and Sauce Gardner in that metric.
Banks, by comparison, sits at roughly a 19.2% target rate with a minus-2% catch rate over expected. He’s been tested more often, but Phillips has been the more efficient cover man. And he’s doing it from the slot, where there’s less room for error and no sideline to help clean things up.
Phillips has allowed just 14 receptions through eight games and has added 28 tackles, including two for loss. His biggest impact game came against the Commanders in Week 5, when he recorded two sacks and four QB hits.
Greg Newsome II is on the same chart too, though not in nearly as flattering a spot. The newly extended defensive back has been targeted on approximately 13.8% of his coverage snaps and carries a plus-5% catch rate over expected. Opponents haven’t gone after him as often, but when they do, they’re completing passes more frequently than expected.
Wilson deserves plenty of credit for the way this cornerback group has come together. Banks is finally playing like the player the Giants drafted.
Newsome is showing flashes as well. And Phillips, quietly, has become one of the biggest reasons this secondary no longer looks like a problem.
In Other News...
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For the Giants, that adds another layer to a matchup already carrying some edge because of Washingtons road struggles. A slick field and steady wind can push both teams toward a lower-scoring script, and it also raises the risk of the kind of incidental injuries that often come with sloppy footing and crowded traffic. In a game like this, execution matters even more, and whoever handles the conditions better may end up controlling a matchup that already looked like it could be decided by the smallest of margins. [Read more 🡒]
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Giants Are Forcing A Playoff Debate Nobody Expected So Soon
The Giants have turned October into something far more interesting than a rebuilding exercise. At 5-2-1, they are suddenly in position to win the NFC East for the first time since 2011, and the numbers back up the surge. Even with injuries hitting key players, New York has stayed in the top half of the league in both offensive and defensive expected points added per play, which helps explain why the conversation around this team has shifted so quickly.
John Harbaughs group has also changed the math in a division that looked like it would be fought over by the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders. New Yorks playoff probability has climbed to 66 percent, a mark that would have sounded ambitious not long ago, but now feels like a fair reflection of how the Giants have been playing. The bigger question is no longer whether they belong in the mix, but how long they can keep forcing everyone else to treat them like a real contender. [Read more 🡒]