Jets DE Carl Lawson says rookie Ahmad Gardner has to ball out to earn the nickname “Sauce”.
It’s pretty typical for rookies to have to earn their keep in the NFL, even if they come in as a top-five draft pick.
Count Carl Lawson among those that want to see rookies make their mark on the team. One in particular, rookie cornerback and No. 4 overall pick Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.
Lawson told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that “‘until he plays & balls out then we’ll call him Sauce, but he’s Ahmad right now”.
Lawson loves the outlook of Gardner, no doubt. But he’s still a rookie in Lawson’s mind and has to earn his stripes.
Of course, if Gardner is anything like he was at Cincinnati, it won’t take very long until Lawson starts calling him “Sauce”, just like the rest of us.
Jets CB D.J. Reed is excited to play with Ahmad Gardner in 2022.
The Jets added two new starting cornerbacks this offseason in veteran D.J. Reed and fourth overall pick Ahmad Gardner.
Even before hitting the field with his new teammate, Reed believes the Jets drafted a true shutdown defensive back in Gardner. The vet is excited to play with the rookie this season.
“I love it, man. Sauce – I watched his tape and he’s everything that the media is saying he is, he’s a lockdown cornerback,” Reed told team reporter Caroline Hendershot. “He did it in college, and he can do it in the NFL, I believe.”
Gardner famously never allowed a touchdown reception during his three years at Cincinnati. He also recorded nine interceptions when opposing quarterbacks were foolish enough to throw his way.
Now the Jets are hoping Gardner’s ball-hawking abilities will translate to the next level. Reed has no doubt.
“He’s prototypical, he has elite characteristics, and he plays good coverage with great eye discipline. And he can catch,” Reed said. “He makes great plays on the ball and it’s just an overall complete cornerback, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to getting to meet bro and just balling with him.”
C.J. Mosley and Corey Davis are among the Jets’ top cap charges in 2022.
Joe Douglas has had to navigate some rough salary cap situations since his tenure with the Jets began. But heading into 2022, New York’s financials are looking very clean – as evidenced by their biggest cap hits.
None of the Jets’ cap hits exceed $17.5 million in 2022, and their most expensive player, LB C.J. Mosley, only ranks 37th in cap hits among all NFL players.
Here’s a look at New York’s top-10 cap charges in 2022:
The Jets revealed Ahmad Gardner’s official jersey number on Tuesday.
Ahmad Gardner staked his claim to his desired jersey number shortly after he was picked by the Jets in the 2022 NFL draft. Now, New York’s top pick has his digit.
The Jets ended any mystery surrounding which numeral Gardner will wear as a rookie on Tuesday, announcing that he will wear No. 1.
Gardner, who wore No. 20 during rookie minicamp, playfully fought for the jersey number with fellow rookie Breece Hall on Twitter last month. It originally seemed like neither would receive No. 1, though, as the Jets tweeted out a D.J. Reed jersey graphic with the number.
Based on Reed’s Twitter feed, it looks like Gardner made a deal with the fellow corner for the number. Reed also teased that he is switching to No. 4 after wearing No. 2 — his number at Kansas State — with the Seahawks in 2021.
Gardner celebrated receiving No. 1 with an edited graphic that he posted on social media.
Had Gardner been drafted just a couple of years ago, he would not have been able to wear a single-digit number. The NFL introduced new jersey number rules based on position last season, allowing players across the league to transition to the single-digit number they wore in college.
Gardner wore No. 1 as one of the best cornerbacks in college football at Cincinnati.
The Houston Texans selected cornerback Derek Stingley over Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner due to the former LSU Tiger’s ability to be versatile.
The Houston Texans had a decision to make at No. 3 overall in Round 1 of the 2022 NFL draft.
With LSU cornerback Derek Stingley and Cincinnati defensive back Ahmad Gardner on the board, Houston would assuredly get a top-flight cornerback to star in coach Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 scheme.
Gardner was the proven commodity with his touchdowns allowed streak and also Smith’s interest in him pre-draft. However, Stingley represented an opportunity to add a future All-Pro to the backend, which is why the Texans turned in the former Bayou Bengal’s card.
According to Jim Trotter from NFL.com, who joined “The Wheelhouse” on ESPN 97.5 in Houston [KFNC-FM] to talk about what he gleaned from his conversations with Smith about the decision between Stingley and Gardner.
“Yeah, the sense that I got is that both of those are special players that the Texans liked,” Trotter said. “But from my conversations with Lovie about Stingley, he loved the fact that this is a kid that played at an extremely high level, meaning the SEC and played against the top competition week in and week out — and not only week in and week out, but day in and day out in practice when we talk about going against guys like Ja’Marr Chase, Terrace Marshall, Justin Jefferson.”
Trotter also relayed that Stingley has a desire to improve as a technician, and that scouts across the NFL endorsed Stingley’s ability to be versatile on the backend — not simply play press coverage, which is Gardner’s go-to.
Said Trotter: “I think here is a feeling that Stingley is a little more versatile. If you talk to scouts around the league and what not, they will tell you primarily that Sauce Gardner is a press corner. Derek Stingley has shown the ability to do both: to play press and play zone, and we know Lovie plays some zone with Cover 2, Cover 3. And, look, what Lovie told me is — and this my take on this — if you want to annoy Lovie, try and tell him he runs primarily a zone defense. He said, ‘No, we play man. Stingley will be asked to play man, but we also will play zone and it will be a part of what we do.’ And part of that is twofold. Number one, to try to ask a corner to play man, press man for every snap of a game is going to wear that corner, and therefore you may have physical breakdowns at some point. At some point corners need a break in the course of a game. Secondly, Lovie is a guy that likes extra sets of eyeballs on the quarterback, on the football. And, so, from that standpoint he utilizes zone concepts, he can do that.”
In his final season at LSU, Stingley was limited to three games due to a Linsfranc injury in his foot. If injury concerns aren’t a problem for Stingley, then the Texans may have found a cornerback Smith likes to play a big role in his defense.
Jets Wire thought up some comps for each member of Gang Green’s 2022 draft class:
NFL players like to see themselves as unique, but scouts and pundits often try to compare prospects to established talent.
So who do the Jets’ seven 2022 draft picks compare to? Jets Wire was wondering the same thing and came up with player comps for each member of New York’s class. These are best-case scenarios of course, and not guaranteed to come to fruition.
Let’s get started with Ahmad Gardner and a comparison Robert Saleh would love to see come true.
Ahmad Gardner has signed his rookie contract with the Jets, becoming the quickest first-round pick in franchise history to do so.
Ahmad Gardner, the fourth pick in the 2022 NFL draft, has signed his rookie contract with the Jets.
Gardner’s fully-guaranteed, four-year rookie deal is worth $38.7 million and includes a $25.3 million signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. Gardner’s contract also includes the standard fifth-year option for first round draft picks.
Gardner is the quickest Jets’ first-round pick to sign his rookie contract in the last 40 years, beating out Leonard Williams, who signed on May 8, 2015, by one day. Williams signed eight days after the conclusion of the draft, while Gardner signed 10 days post-draft.
Just three Jets first-round before Gardner and Williams picks have signed their rookie contracts in May since 1984. Defensive end Hugh Douglas signed on May 31, 1995, tight end Anthony Becht signed on May 25, 2000 and outside linebacker Quinton Coples signed on May 17, 2012.
Gardner was present and took part in the first day of rookie minicamp on Friday.
“Corner is very important, because it’s everything we talk about on third down and in crunch time when the whole world knows you’re passing the ball and the whole other side of the world knows you’re in man coverage and it’s a 1-on-1 football game,” Robert Saleh said after the first day of rookie minicamp. “That’s difference-making. Sauce has the ability to do that in man coverage, but has zone coverage ability. He has tenacity and tackling, which teams do to us.”
The Jets have garnered plenty of praise for their 2022 draft class. Here’s one thing to love about each of New York’s seven picks:
The Jets added seven new players during the 2022 NFL draft. Each one carries a unique skill set that will hopefully get New York back on track after a 4-13 season.
Joe Douglas used this year’s draft to land Gang Green a potential lockdown cornerback, a new top target for Zach Wilson, an intriguing pass rusher and the second part of what could be a dynamic backfield duo. Douglas still has work to do to get the Jets ready to go for training camp, but there is plenty for New York to be excited about when it comes to its incoming group of rookies.
Let’s take a look at one big thing to love about each of the Jets’ seven draft picks.
The Oklahoma Sooners had seven selections in the 2022 NFL draft, where did that stack up among College Football programs.
Despite no first-round picks for the second consecutive NFL draft, the Oklahoma Sooners had a great weekend in the 2022 NFL draft with seven selections across the 262 picks made.
Nik Bonitto was the topper on the cake, drafted No. 64 overall by the Denver Broncos. Brian Asamoah was the only other top 100 pick on day two, going to the Minnesota Vikings.
The Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos went to the Oklahoma Sooners well multiple times in the draft. After taking Bonitto in the second round, the Broncos took Delarrin Turner-Yell in the fifth round. The Browns drafted Perrion Winfrey, Isaiah Thomas, and Michael Woods to make up the Sooners’ connection in Cleveland.
Though they didn’t have a first rounder, the Sooners seven draft picks had them tied for fifth with the Alabama Crimson Tide for the most selections in the 2022 NFL draft. For the 15th consecutive year, the Sooners had four players selected. Oklahoma’s the only school that can boast that accomplishment.
And in the Big 12, they’re running laps around the competition more than doubling the second-place Texas Longhorns for the most draft picks over the last five years. Of course, it’s easy to extend your lead when the Longhorns go without a selection in a draft. However, that’s a testament to the development of the Sooners’ assistant coaches over the last decade and a half.
NFL Draft Picks, last 5 years • Big 12
28 – Oklahoma 14 – Texas 13 – Oklahoma State 13 – TCU 12 – Baylor 9 – Texas Tech 9 – West Virginia 7 – Iowa State 6 – Kansas State 3 – Kansas
— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) May 2, 2022
On Monday, Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said the team had three “really good offers” for their sixth overall pick before two particular defenders were snatched off the board.
New Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu seems pretty happy that he’s staying home in Charlotte. And he may have the Houston Texans and New York Jets, in part, to thank for that.
General manager Scott Fitterer, the famed draft-pick merchant himself, was featured on Monday’s episode of Movin’ the Chains on SiriusXM NFL Radio. When covering what went down this past weekend, particularly about how he and the team landed on Ekwonu, he told hosts Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller that the chance to wheel and deal with the sixth overall pick was very much alive.
That prospect died, however, when a pair of cornerbacks were scooped up before the Panthers hit the clock.
Scott Fitterer on @SiriusXMNFL: “we had 3 really good offers” for the 6th overall pick. Says those teams were going for corners, and when they came off the board, that ended that.
Those corners, of course, were Derek Stingley Jr. of Louisiana State University and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner of the University of Cincinnati. After the draft started with a pair of pass rushers in Travon Walker and Aidan Hutchinson, Stingley Jr. and Garnder went third and fourth overall—respectively—to the Texans and Jets.
Two picks later, Carolina took their guy Ickey and him the first offensive player to have his name called on Thursday night. So even though Fitterer might’ve had that itch to trade down, it was probably scratched by the fact that they may have finally gotten their franchise left tackle.
