While the Las Vegas Raiders have fantastic top-end talent scattered across the roster, there are a lot of holes to fill this offseason. One position that could use an upgrade is cornerback. Only a couple of young players stand out in this secondary. An athletic, lengthy corner like Deonte Banks would seamlessly improve this unit. Let’s take a closer look at Banks in our latest Raiders scouting report.
BackgroundÂ
Deonte Banks has a sturdy frame at 6’2″, 205 lbs., packed with lots of muscle mass. Coming out of high school banks was a three-star recruit. He earned the All-Harford County football honors. Additionally, he was a track-and-field competitor. He surprisingly started in 11 games in his first year. He subsequently suffered a season-ender in 2021. Since then, he’s played his best brand of football.
Strengths
Deonte Banks is a long physical, and aggressive-minded corner. What makes Banks stand out as a potential Day 2 player is his athleticism. It’s very challenging to find the type of size-speed-fluidity combo he has. Banks’ lateral quickness is superior to many nickel corners. Moreover, his physical attitude and long frame would bode well in Graham’s press-heavy system. He also has some of the best mirroring abilities in this class. The way he flips his hips for being 6’2″ is quite remarkable. In addition to being physical in run defense, he is a very sure tackler.
Impressive rep by Deonte Banks. Plays the whip route with good leverage, then flips and turns with the WR during the 2nd reaction, and finishes strong at the catch point pic.twitter.com/gKiAjIcADH
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) February 21, 2023
Weaknesses
Despite having the frame and strength to press, he needs to refine his technique more in the pros. He’ll get overly aggressive in press coverage and tends to lag with his feet. Bank’s aggressiveness leads to him becoming grabby downfield. His route recognition is also lackluster, and he manages to get confused in coverage. Finally, his ball production isn’t anything special, as he only came away with two career picks.
Raiders Scouting: Where can Vegas land him?
He obviously isn’t a top-ten talent, and it’s not in the Raiders’ best interest to trade down. That takes him out of the equation for pick No. 7. If he slips to the second, however, this would be a slam-dunk pick. Even though he is a bit raw, his weaknesses are relatively fixable. This is a borderline true first-round talent, and he could very well find himself slipping to pick 38. If adequately coached, he can thrive in Patrick Graham’s scheme and eventually be an outstanding number-one guy.
*Top Photo: YouTube/Kalifornia Highlights
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