Which Giants draft pick labeled a bust can turn things around in 2026?

Editor's note: This is Part 14 of 26 in Art Stapleton's New York Giants summer series Q&A

The New York Giants have a Super Bowl winner and possible Hall of Famer at head coach in John Harbaugh, with whom the entire team can strive for a championship standard the franchise has failed to meet for far too long now.

The standing ovation for Harbaugh from the assembled Giants fans inside Beacon Theatre back in May for the team's Town Hall event was only just the beginning.

And Harbaugh, their head coach set to usher in yet another new era for the franchise in its 102nd year, certainly knew how to play to his audience moments later.

With chants of "Cowboys suck" ringing out around him, Harbaugh was asked by a fan if he could promise the Giants were done being kicked around by their NFC rivals and most hated foes: the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders.

That's when Harbaugh with 193 career victories rallied a fan base with a pledge that felt an awful lot like a battle cry he will repeatedly deliver between now and the start of the season.

"I could [not] care less about what's happened last year or the year before that or 10 years before that," Harbaugh said. "All I care about is tomorrow's practice, because if tomorrow's practice is the way it's supposed to be, that will be one more step in the direction of being a good enough football team to kick the Cowboys' ass."

26 QUESTIONS: See our growing list of Giants questions for 2026 season

For now, there are far more questions than answers. But we hope to set the table for the summer and beyond with 26 questions that will define the 2026 Giants season.

Question #14: Which Giants draft pick with 'bust' label can turn it around?

Somewhere between inconsistency and fleeting confidence, Tae Banks lost his way.

Maybe it was attitude, a lack of conviction in his technique or a coaching failure within a defensive system that did not fit his talents as someone who lived and died in press man coverage.

All of that contributed to where Banks is now, which is in NFL limbo after the Giants brought in Harbaugh and essentially cleared the decks of both the roster in its entirety and the depth chart, especially in the secondary.

No one can be certain if what we are watching from Banks is just the final days of another failed first-round pick, a countdown to the end of his time here, or the start of a reclamation project that somehow changes the trajectory - more fitting a spiral - of his career. He's going to be given a chance to shed the bust label he essentially earned with the way he played for the better part of the last two years.

But the evaluation of Banks as an asset or an afterthought will play out in real time for this coaching staff, and how he fits in a secondary of opportunity with Greg Newsome, rookie Colton Hood and Banks all competing for snaps opposite Paulson Adebo with the first-team defense this spring.

As a rookie, Banks has a compact frame (now listed at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds) with above-average length, and his short-area quickness was elite. He was physical and instinctive, too, and the raw talent - size, speed and ability to change directions - was noticeable.

Where did that player go? It's hard to say, and whether that player even exists anymore is what falls on the Giants as Harbaugh and new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson - and position coaches Donald D'Alesio and Addison Lynch - to find out.

Banks was ultimately benched in Years 2 and 3, dogged by criticism of his work ethic and an apparent refusal to engage in the run game, leading to glaring mistakes when breaking down the tape. The Giants declined his fifth-year option - there really was no other choice - so Banks' rookie contract is set to expire at the end of the 2026 campaign.

Harbaugh has not pulled any punches when talking about Banks, saying he has not played well and, "he knows that."

With Gunner Olszewski lost for the season with an Achilles injury, Banks has a real chance to emerge as the Giants' top kickoff returner. He showed flashes last year for sure. That's not enough to shed that unwanted label, of course, but if Banks' performance on game day can match the athletic arrogance displayed on the practice fields in West Virginia, he might just alter how we talk about his future.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Which Giants draft pick labeled a bust can turn things around in 2026?