Deonte Banks 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scouting report for the Maryland CB

Maryland vs. Penn State

Deonte Banks, until this season, played the most games as a true freshman (11 games, eight starts), when he had one interception and a couple of PBUs. That's because Maryland only played five games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and he then was lost for the following season two games in.

Last year Banks, a top 1,000 recruit in 2019, made a name for himself, with another pick and eight PBUs, while drawing the eye of the scouting community.

Deonte Banks, Maryland

6-foot, 205 pounds; redshirt junior

Positives

+ Was a true press-man corner for the Terps, spent all but 13 snaps on the perimeter last season

+ Shows advanced understanding of receiver splits, which routes to expect and to protect against those with the technique he uses

+ Utilizes independent hand jams and re-routing tools to keep guys across from him off their game

+ Stays patient against delayed releases and packs a mean jam to throw guys off balance when they do ultimately commit

+ Has the speed to frequently blanket go routes in man and not allow receivers to detach vertically down the post, even when he plays with outside leverage in cover-three/-four

+ Can gather and re-accelerate very well, to not allow guys to create separation on double moves

+ For a long corner, Banks can roll his hips and get underneath deep in-breakers very well, after flipping with the outside release initially

+ Plays to his leverage and doesn’t overreact to route stems intended to pull him off his landmarks in zone coverage

+ Communicative player with passing off assignments in that regard and the explosiveness to attach to secondary targets approaching his general space

+ Recognizes when he can fall off onto seam routes in cover-three and has the length to disrupt the catch point, as he arrives there late

+ Does not panic with his back to the football and consistently punches through the hands of his man

+ That competitiveness at the catch-point is apparent when the catch seems to be secured and he keeps trying to rip it out

+ Received a 73.1 PFF coverage grade in 2022, with 13 forced incompletions and that one INT, allowing only 26 completions on 60 targets, although four of those ended in touchdowns

+ Actively condenses the edge when unblocked in the rum game and has no issues making stops on-on-one as ball-carriers try to get around the edge

+ Willing, effective tackler, with just one total miss this past season on 39 attempts

+ There are several moments watching Banks’ tape where his joy for the game and energy is apparent

+ Had a tremendous combine showing, where he ran a 4.35 in the 40, led all corners with a 42-inch vertical & was second in the broad jump at 11-4. He also had an excellent on-field workout, where he stayed low in his pedal, was able to drive out of it with explosion and flip his hips without issues, despite that longer build. And he caught the ball with confidence throughout

Negatives

– Probably not the best fit for a quarters or off-man heavy scheme, because there is a bit of a delay at times when trying to click-and-close on routes in front of him, if he has to gain depth initially

– Still has room to improve his ability to maintain contact through the release in press technique, rather than shooting his hands and then turning with guys

– Consistently plays the man and rarely tracks the ball in the air to attack it, while getting flagged a few times for raking through the receiver’s hands a split-second early

– There are too many plays where he’s in phase but receivers are able to adjust to the pass in the air and Banks doesn’t contest the catch enough or even tries to find the ball

– Allows receivers to get into his frame too much as blockers and then has a tough time disengaging from those

This is a name that has just continued to rise throughout this predraft process and moved up my rankings the more I watched of him.

Banks is a prototype outside corner, with the aggressive mindset to throw off the timing of routes, but also being springy enough to not allow guys to separate if they have the edge off the line, along with the burst and length to close any distance late.

There’s certainly room for improvement in his press-technique, and you’d like to see him want to make plays on the ball more regularly. But if you put him in a system where he can dictate routes early on and not have make to transitions from off-alignments regularly, I think he be an excellent starter at boundary corner for a long time.

With the way he tested in Indy, I don’t see a way he makes it out of the first round at this point.

Grade: Late first round

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