Ex-Jets Scout: Ahmad Gardner Will Be NFL’s Top Cover Corner

This former scout had some high praise for the Jets and their new rookie cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner in his first evaluation since the 2022 NFL Draft.

Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner from the University of Cincinnati is everything any team would want in a cornerback, and he now plays for the New York Jets.

You have to know that someone with a nickname like “Sauce” is something special and he is.

I have seen them all over the last forty years and I even named my first-born daughter after Champ Bailey, who Gardner reminds me of. 

If making that comparison is not the highest compliment I could ever give to Gardner, I do not know what else to say. 

Gardner has it. 

Go back and watch the game against the Crimson Tide in 2021. Powerhouse Alabama challenged Gardner on one deep pass and it fell incomplete. Gardner was all over that receiver like he was his shadow and for the rest of the game, Alabama avoided Gardner like the plague.

I have to admit, I was down on the Jets when they did not land free-agent corner J.C. Jackson from New England. That was until the Jets sent the card in for the No. 4 pick in the first-round.

Hey Tyreek Hill, Fuhgeddaboudit. 

SUNDAY SAUCE COMIN'@iamSauceGardner | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/0W468iTaBk

— New York Jets (@nyjets) April 29, 2022

Gardner, who did not allow a touchdown pass to be thrown against him during his college career, has already come out and made another bold prediction. 

“I don’t have plans on giving one up in the NFL,” Gardner said with a smile. 

As an evaluator, that is what I love most about about Gardner, I love his confidence. 

The NFL is about more than height, weight, speed and running around little orange cones on pro days. 

As they like to say, “The game is won or lost from the neck up.”

How true, how true. 

I also love how Gardner always keeps an eye in the backfield. 

Gardner watches the quarterback like a ballhawk. 

Former Jets Scout Says First-Round Pick Ahmad Gardner Is Destined For Greatness in New York

This former New York Jets scout says Ahmad Gardner will be a top cornerback in the NFL in New York.

Grading Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

6-foot-3, 200 pounds

2021 game film reviewed: Alabama, UCF, Notre Dame

Grade: A+ (Blue-Chip player and elite)

Scouting Report

Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Awesome combination of athletic ability, speed, physicality, technique, length and long arms. Imposing. He will come right up on receivers and lock up in tight man pre-snap. Effortlessly opens up, flips hips and peddles smoothly. Fluid looking. Uses hands aggressively and actively to challenge receivers as they are attempting to get into their routes. Makes it difficult for them to create separation. Tends to use sidelines extremely well as a friend and maintains excellent route leverage throughout. Provides very small throwing windows and has that coveted short area burst to boot. Dominant. He stays in the back pocket of receivers and matches routes exceptionally well. He looks like he is in the offensive huddle, that is how well he knows the routes and anticipates them. Carries routes at all levels very well. Stays tight on shallow crossing patterns. Can close fast back downhill. Torpedos in on screens. Great field awareness. Can match receivers deep. Opponents respect him so much they barely test him. Takes away one side of the field. Tough cookie who loves contact in run support. Occasionally misses, but an otherwise hardcore tackler. Body slammed a UCF player on a stop. Another time, caught a UCF receiver in the open field from behind. High level of want shown in all situations. About the only thing he did not do is get to the QB on a blitz (ND) because he got blocked. Special looking.

Bottom Line

Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Gardner is just fun to watch. The greats leave me wanting to find even more film to watch.

Expect Gardner to quickly establish himself as the top cover-corner in the NFL.

Expect him to make the Pro Bowl as a rookie.

Congratulations to the Jets for landing a superstar talent who looking back, just may have been the best player in the 2022 NFL Draft.

MORE:

• 2022 NFL Draft: Experts Rave About Jets' Draft Class
• Ex-Jets Scout Praises Joe Douglas For New York's 2022 NFL Draft Class
• What Ohio State TE Jeremy Ruckert Brings to the Jets

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