Heading into the 2025 season, the Giants are coming off another incredibly disappointing campaign, which saw them go 3-14 and take another step in the wrong direction, putting GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll firmly on the hot seat. But as the team heads into 2025, there’s optimism that the Giants will be an improved squad.
In this series, we’ll break down the depth chart for every position group. This time, we’ll go in-depth at the cornerback position…
Projected depth chart
Starters: Paulson Adebo, Deonte Banks, Dru Phillips (nickel)
Backups: Cor’Dale Flott, Tre Hawkins III, Korie Black, Art Green, Nic Jones
Key additions/losses: Signed Adebo in free agency, lost Adoree’ Jackson in free agency
Top Performers in 2024: Phillips, with 71 tackles, one interception, 1.0 sack, two forced fumbles
2024 ranking via PFF: 15th out of 222 ranked cornerbacks
What Giants corners have going for them
The 2024 season was a rough one for most Giants players, and the cornerback group was no exception. As a team, the Giants had just five interceptions, and Phillips, Flott, and Hawkins were the only corners to register any.
The Giants needed a boost in the CB room, so Schoen went out and signed Adebo, a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2021, who has flown under the radar as one of the more consistent corners in the NFL. Adebo has been a starter from Day One of his pro career, and he has 10 career interceptions, so the hope is he can continue to be a ballhawk and step up as CB1 for the Giants.
The other key player here is Phillips, who didn’t take long to establish himself as one of the best nickel backs in the NFL. As a rookie, Phillips locked down the slot, and with nickel now more of a starting position than a true sub-package, having that kind of playmaker in that spot is huge for Big Blue.
Key concern for 2025: Depth on the outside
Outside of Adebo, there are more questions than answers for the Giants at outside cornerback. The Giants’ next best corners are Phillips and Flott, and both of them are more suited to playing in the slot as opposed to outside the numbers. Hawkins has the tools and has shown flashes of being a capable outside corner, but he also needs to prove he can stay on the field as he recovers from a spine injury.
Player who must step up in 2025: Banks
When the Giants drafted Banks in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the plan was for him to eventually take over as the team’s top corner, shutting down opposing No. 1 receivers. But things simply have not clicked for Banks, who was ranked by Pro Football Focus as the No. 182 cornerback out of the 222 players graded at the position.
The 2024 season was supposed to be Banks’ first chance to lead the room, but he didn’t show enough during the preseason, and the Giants ultimately ended up bringing backJackson on Sept. 1, just seven days before the season opener against Minnesota. This time around, the Giants added Adebo to give them a proven corner ahead of Banks, who will be eligible for a fifth-year extension starting next offseason.
Banks had two picks as a rookie, but took a step back in his second season. He’ll need to bounce back in 2025.
Biggest camp battle: Banks vs. Hawkins
It’s never ideal to have a first-round pick sitting on the bench, but Hawkins has the talent to push Banks for playing time.
Hawkins, a former sixth-round pick who is still just 24 years old, only appeared in three games last season, and he suffered a fractured lumbar spine injury in the same game that he recorded the first interception by a Giants corner all season.
Hawkins vs. Banks will be one to watch during camp.
Overall 2025 outlook
On paper, the Giants have a talented, young group of starting corners. Banks is a question mark and could end up being an X-factor for the entire secondary, but Adebo and Phillips have the talent to lock down opposing receivers, giving Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen a chance to be creative with his blitzing schemes.
The Giants’ corners were basically a non-factor in 2024, but they could be in for a much more impactful season in 2025.
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