Ahmad Gardner a Top-15 Pick in Latest Mock Drafts, Multiple Bearcats Taken in Second Round

Cincinnati has a great chance to have three players taken with top-60 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

CINCINNATI — ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and The Athletic's Dane Brugler unveiled their latest mock drafts, and Cincinnati had one player selected in the first round of both. The Minnesota Vikings took Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner off the board with the 12th pick in both projections.

Gardner is a consensus first-round pick among most analysts. Kiper has openly praised Desmond Ridder, but he was not among the four QBs he took off the board in this mock.

"Since 2013, the Vikings have drafted four cornerbacks in Round 1," Kiper wrote about the pick. "Not a single one of them is still on their roster. Coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman are out, and the new regime will inherit a good, not great, roster with a couple significant voids, particularly at corner. Veteran Patrick Peterson was signed to a one-year deal last offseason, so he's a free agent, and I'm not sold that Cameron Dantzler is a quality starter.

"They should jump at the chance to take Gardner, a lockdown corner who presented problems for opposing offensive coordinators in 2021. He was targeted just 31 times as the nearest defender in coverage, and he allowed only eight catches for 60 yards. With Kirk Cousins not locked in long-term, I thought about a quarterback here, but Gardner is too good to pass up for a team in glaring need."

Brugler was thinking the same thing as Kiper when it came to Gardner's best fit in the top half of the draft.

"Opinions are split around the league if Gardner belongs in the top-15 or if he should come off the board in the back half of round one," Brugler wrote. "The Cincinnati corner was a three-year starter and didn’t give up a touchdown in over 1,100 coverage snaps in college. Gardner gets a little handsy, but he has the long-striding speed and hip-flip to stay on top of routes."

Gardner is currently preparing for the 2022 NFL Draft after not giving up a single touchdown in his UC career. If he goes off the board inside the first 21 picks, he'll be the highest draft pick in school history.

Like Kiper, Brugler has no other Bearcats in his first round, but it didn't take long for Ridder and Myjai Sanders to come off of the board. He has Ridder going to the Giants at No. 36 and Sanders going to the Broncos at No. 40.

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