Few players have made a bigger, more immediate impact in the NFL than Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner. Immediately after the New York Jets selected him 4th overall in the 2022 NFL draft, he won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, and was then selected as a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in each of his first two seasons. This electric start to his career is a big reason why he just signed a historic contract extension.
Unfortunately for Gardner, his 2024 season was a bit of a fall from grace. The entire Jets team struggled, especially in the aftermath of the firing of Robert Saleh, and even a two-time All-Pro was not immune to the setbacks. Gardner ended the season without any accolades for the first time in his career.
While no one is predicting a cataclysmic slide for Gardner, there are now people around the league who wonder if perhaps Gardner’s explosive entry into the NFL was more of a fluke than his real self.
This sentiment is reflected in the latest rankings from ESPN, who polled anonymous NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to find the ten best players in each position group. This year, Gardner checks in at No. 5, a drop of two spots from last year’s list. The highest vote cast for him was at No. 3 while at least one respondent had him entirely outside of the Top 10.
One AFC staffer did not mince words when it came to Gardner: “Lots of missed tackles and penalties and didn’t make many plays last year. Too much, too soon and thought the NFL was easy.”
Jets fans won’t want to hear it, but that’s spot-on analysis. Even in college, the big knock on his game was how much he grabbed and held receivers when he failed to win a matchup. As a rookie, Gardner appeared to inexplicably get away with a ton of uncalled holding or interference penalties. In 2024, however, the flags started to come out and Gardner struggled to respond.
Another respondent, an NFC defensive coach, concurred, saying, “…he was getting put in conversations that I didn’t think were legitimate or fair. When I watch the film, I see a top ten cornerback. I don’t see the top three.”
That’s about as straightforward as it gets. Harsh, but not out of line.
The analysis isn’t all bad, however. Pro Football Focus is still a believer in Sauce, who they ranked as the NFL’s top cornerback heading into the 2025 season. But Gardner appears to have some doubters around the league now, maybe some who had doubted him all along, and it’s up to him to prove them wrong in 2025.
