Damon Bankston is getting a few second-team reps and a lot of third-team work, and that is not the kind of practice pattern that usually leads to a 53-man roster spot. He has not really stood out, and unless that distribution changes, his path onto the Giants’ roster looks narrow.
The timing matters because the Giants are opening the preseason, when every rep gets treated like evidence. In that setting, the Giants Depth Chart is not just a list on paper. It becomes the clearest way to read who is moving up, who is stuck, and who is sliding toward the cut line before the games begin to count.
Bankston’s standing is showing up in the way he is being used. A back who gets a few second-team reps can still get noticed, but a lot of third-team work usually says the coaching staff is looking at him as a depth piece rather than as someone on track to dress in September. That is why the numbers behind his practice role matter more than any empty optimism around camp.
John Harbaugh has not dismissed him. He said he likes Bankston’s talent. But Harbaugh also said Bankston is behind the other backs in terms of his understanding of the offense, and that is the part that explains the depth-chart gap. Talent can get a player on the field for a few reps. Knowing where to be, and when, is what turns those reps into trust.
That is the friction here. Bankston was productive enough last year to grab attention, with 2 returns for touchdowns on only 12 returns, but practice usage is telling a different story now. The Giants are not handing him a bigger role just because he has flashed before. They are weighing whether he can process the offense fast enough to keep pace with the other backs already ahead of him.
That kind of roster sorting is also why the Giants are getting mailbag questions as the preseason opens. Fans are asking about practice sites, about whether the team can use Met Life Stadium, and about where training camp could go if plans ever change. The answer there is simpler than the roster math: the Giants plan to train in East Rutherford next summer as far as Ed knows, and if they ever had to move, The Greenbrier would likely be the first choice.
There is a practical reason for that too. The Giants did not build their own practice facility, and they are not spending millions now to renovate one just to move training camp to a remote location. They are allowed to practice in Met Life Stadium, but the team has not played enough good football in recent years to fill the stadium with its own fans rather than fans of the opposing team, which is why the home-field idea does not solve the larger issue.
For Bankston, the next step is plain. He has to turn those scattered second-team snaps into a real climb on the Giants Depth Chart before the preseason work hardens into roster decisions. If that does not happen, the current practice pattern is already telling the story the Giants need most: he is behind, and not by a little.
