Tag: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

Tyrann Mathieu could enter Week 3 with an extra chip on his shoulder

C.J. Gardner-Johnson called out Tyrann Mathieu over Madden ratings this summer. Mathieu fired back, and that trash talk could work out as good motivation:

Tyrann Mathieu may play with an extra chip on his shoulder this week.

Players typically find their own source of additional motivation. Mathieu may look back to a social media moment with C.J. Gardner-Johnson this offseason as motivation for the game between the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles.

Gardner-Johnson took issue with Mathieu having a higher overall than him in Madden. In response, Gardner-Johnson called out Mathieu and his former team. He points towards how 2022 and 2023 transpired as proof that Mathieu isn’t a better player than him.

It’s flawed logic on a couple of fronts, but most notably, Mathieu didn’t replace Gardner Johnson. He may be a safety now, but he was a nickel corner with the Saints.

Mathieu didn’t care how flawed the logic was, he fired back in tweets that have now been deleted. It’s unclear if this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but Mathieu responded like his name had been being played with.

More than just the initial response, Mathieu began to post lists where he was ranked highly. These moments always felt like subliminal shots towards Gardner-Johnson. The posts shared the same tone as Mathieu’s direct response.

The tone was Mathieu is a veteran who has played at a high level and continues to do so. It clearly lit a fire underneath Mathieu in August, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that fire be reignited with Gardner-Johnson on the opposing side.

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Watch: Christian McCaffrey hits Lions’ Chauncey Gardner-Johnson with nasty stiff arm in NFC Championship

Christian McCaffrey delivered a nasty stiff arm against Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on the way to picking up a first down against the Lions.

After a flat start that resulted in a 14-point deficit to the Detroit Lions, Christian McCaffrey helped set the tone for the San Francisco 49ers before getting them on the board with a much-needed touchdown.

During their first scoring drive of the NFC championship, McCaffrey delivered a nasty stiff arm while Lions safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson attempted to tackle him. Following his stiff arm, McCaffrey picked up 28 yards on a pass from Purdy for a first down.

McCaffrey finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run. 

Via @NFL on Twitter:

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Film Review: Breaking down new Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Film Review: Breaking down new Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson and how the Lions can use his skills

On Sunday night, the Detroit Lions made a surprising move by signing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to a one-year contract. The deal is worth $8 million dollars and it is being labeled as a “prove it” deal for one of the most talented safeties in the NFL.

Last season, Gardner-Johnson was tied for the league lead of six interceptions. Ranked up there with Justin Simmons, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Tariq Woolen, it was pretty surprising that CGJ didn’t land a long-term deal.

Maybe he’ll prove himself in Detroit and Brad Holmes will give him the contract he deserves. Time will tell. For now, let’s jump into the tape and review how Gardner-Johnson fits the Detroit Lions!

Playing near the box 

Last season, Gardner-Johnson played just about everywhere for the Philadelphia Eagles. In total, he played 873 total snaps. Just over 200 of the snaps came from playing in the box while another 208 of them came from covering the slot. You’ll see from the clips below how he plays aggressive but is also active with his hands and feet to always be involved with the play.

Looking at the play above, you’ll see Gardner-Johnson (Eagles DB #23) start to creep up into the box. As the Cowboys run a toss play out of an off-set I-formation, you’ll notice how Gardner-Johnson flows laterally to the football. He works his hands by pushing off the initial block attempt from the tight end.

Meanwhile, he stays in position with the proper pursuit angle and play speed. As the running back prepares to cut-back inside, he’s met by Gardner-Johnson who tackles with his inside shoulder to then drag the ballcarrier to the ground.

Staying with the same game against the Cowboys, you’ll notice how Gardner-Johnson (Eagles DB #23) is aligned over the C-gap. Shaded to inside shoulder of the tight end, Gardner-Johnson is aligned in what is called a 50.

From this, he could very well be watching the wide receiver that’s aligned as an H-back, the tight end or the running back. His coverages would depend on what potential zone he may have or who would have to cover in man coverage.

That said, this is a run play and Gardner-Johnson does a great job stacking the receiver and attempting to shed him as the running back tries to get to the slightly open hole. But by staying square, the running back is met by Gardner-Johnson for a tackle. It’s worth noting that Gardner-Johnson had to come out after this play due to either a wrist or hand injury. The Cowboys went on to sustain their drive after he came off the field and it ended up in a touchdown.

Effort with tremendous ball skills 

As I mentioned earlier, Gardner-Johnson was tied for the league lead of six interceptions this past season. In addition to the interceptions, he also had four pass breakups. While he did give up 41 receptions for 338 yards and four touchdowns (per PFF), there was a lot asked out of him in Philadelphia.

Even when he gave up a reception, he came back the next play with great energy and effort. The energy he plays with is captivating and it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s a reason to why the Lions wanted him part of their defense.

Taking a look at one of his interceptions, the play above showcases one against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. You’ll notice that the Eagles run Cover 1 against the twins right formation from the Cardinals. In the middle of the field as the free safety, you’ll see Gardner-Johnson (Eagles DB #23) have free range on the middle of the field.

As the wide receiver runs the deep post, Gardner-Johnson floats to the deep middle and reads the ball the entire step of the way. While it’s a bit under thrown, he still does a great job intercepting the pass.

Just talking about effort, the play above screams the type of effort that we’ll get from Gardner-Johnson in Detroit. After getting banged up and missing plays from back-to-back offensive series from the Cowboys, it was like Gardner-Johnson (Eagles DB #23) went to the bench and knew he had to make a play to ensure his team takes over the game.

In the play above, Gardner-Johnson is aligned as the free safety while the Eagles run Cover 1 on defense again. While the quarterback attempts this throw off play-action, it’s severely under-thrown but that doesn’t stop an interception from happening.

With great effort, you’ll see how Gardner-Johnson reads the ball in the air and makes a spectacular diving catch. As he secures the interception, he gets up and runs toward midfield to give the offense a chance to pull ahead in a tight rivalry game.

Overall thoughts and fit with Detroit

When I got the news that Gardner-Johnson had signed with Detroit, I thought I was getting pranked. I triple-checked multiple accounts on Twitter to ensure that it was true. In fact, I even had my wife tap me on the shoulder to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

As one of my favorite players from the 2019 NFL Draft, I felt like CGJ was a Day 2 prospect. He lasted until the 4th round and went 105th overall to the New Orleans Saints. No matter where he’s been, he’s made an impact. I expect the same to happen in Detroit for CGJ.

Best suited to play near the box, in the slot or even as a buzz defender, there will be multiple hats for him to wear in Detroit. By bringing him into the mix, it allows a player such as Tracy Walker to not rush back from his achilles injury and it should only help further the development of Kerby Joseph. The effort that Gardner-Johnson plays with is contagious and it should rub off onto his teammates. With him signing in Detroit over other teams, maybe it’s a sign that the times are indeed changing.

Detroit Lions salary cap update after aggressive free agency moves

The Detroit Lions continue to make one impactful move after another, and with a couple of restructures, the Lions salary cap is looking good.

It has been one busy offseason for the Detroit Lions. More than most of us are accustomed to, especially in recent memory. General Manager Brad Holmes took talent acquisition to a whole level bringing one playmaker after another. What makes these moves so shrewd is, from the naked eye, they did not overpay for any of these acquisitions.

There is a lot to catch up on after our breakdown from the initial free agency wave, so we will go ahead and look at the latest moves the Lions made the past few days.

Holmes came in with a plan to take the Lions biggest weakness this past season, flipped it on its heels, and made it a force to be reckoned with the signing of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. The exact cap details haven’t been released, but the Lions were able to sign him to a reasonable one-year, $8,500,000 deal.

Emmanuel Mosley, C.J. Moore, and Michael Badgley’s contract details were released, with Mosley counting $4,294,118 against the cap, Moore’s cap hit at $1,800,000, and Badgley sitting at $1,092,500 cap hit.

With no position to little, Holmes is bringing competition at long snapper signing veteran Jake McQuaide, who has a cap hit of $1,092,500.

To give the Lions extra wiggle room in the salary cap department, they worked out contract restructures with Romeo Okwara and Jack Fox. Okwara’s was a renegotiation versus a restructure, which freed up nearly $9 million in salary cap space, with a cap hit only at $5,647,059 showing how much he wants to be in Detroit. Fox’s restructure freed up $1.6 million and now only counts $1,965,000 towards the salary cap.

Before all the moves were made, the Lions sat at $18.4 million in cap space, but now they have increased it to nearly $22.4 million, according to Over the Cap. Also, they have increased their effective cap spending from $8.3 million to $14 million, giving them the extra breathing room to make depth signings and sign their rookie class.

The Lions have been very busy this offseason making one impactful move after another. They have brought in players who can contribute immediately while keeping players who played a vital role in the last year’s success while keeping the salary cap very manageable with effective contract negotiations. The Lions have put the league on notice that they are ready to compete with anyone and take the next leap forward to great and continued success.

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C.J. Gardner-Johnson ready to bring the grit and fight to the Lions

.The Detroit Lions brought in versatile defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson to bolster the secondary while putting the league on notice

Just when you think Lions GM Brad Holmes is done making moves, he pulls out his bag of tricks. Holmes brought in one of the top free agents this offseason in slot corner C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Everyone could’ve easily connected the dots between Gardner-Johnson and the current coaching making Detroit an easy place to slot the versatile defender as a destination.

After the Lions made move after move to bolster the secondary, though, it seemed the likelihood of Gardner-Johnson landing in Detroit was a pipe dream, especially since most thought he would garner a large contract. Not only does Detroit bring in a defender they can place anywhere in the secondary, but they also got him at a reasonable deal that makes other teams shake their heads.

Gardner-Johnson is familiar with Dan Campbell having crossed paths during their time with the New Orlean Saints, but there is one person on the coaching staff Gardner-Johnson has deep personal roots with, and that would be defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. They have known each other since Gardner-Johnson was in high school and have continued to hold a special relationship through the years.

“It’s like a father-son relationship. When I mess up, even when I wasn’t playing with him, I mess up, and I would text him like, ‘did you see it? Did you not see it?’ Because it was like, don’t want to let somebody down who actually is there to help you.”

Gardner-Johnson continued,

“So, I think the relationship with him just being there helping me get better every day. I remember him telling me by the time I get you again, where I’m going to be at, you’re going to be exactly where I need you to be.’ I think me growing as a player and as a man, understanding like how to get better from Year 1 to Year 4, maturing. I think that’s what really brought me here. Back to my roots, so I can understand like ‘don’t get too up, got to stay grounded and continue to work.”

The days of players being driven away from Detroit are long gone. Instead, players have started to take notice of the culture turnaround and the identity they have established in the league. Now players want to come to him because they know this football team is about to take a corner no one could’ve anticipated.

“I want to play with a young group of guys that’s hungry who showed a lot of grit and fight last year. I was on the other side,” Gardner-Johnson said. “But just watching from the outside looking in, got a lot of great young talent. I played against it in Week 1 last year, obviously. They have an identity already established. It took a couple of years to get it going. But being here and seeing it, front office, I haven’t been around the players yet. But you can see it when you watch it on tape, watch it on TV, watch it on film. I think this place here is somewhere I can call that a home almost. Like, I’m familiar with everybody, comfortable and I’m ready to get going.”

Detroit has put everyone on notice that they mean business. They are bringing in players who want to be part of this turnaround and help the Lions take that giant leap forward. Gardner-Johnson will be part of a strong secondary that takes a leap from one of the worst in the league to one that could be feared every week. With the draft still to go, it is hard not to be excited about what the future holds for the Lions.

Lions and Eagles players share great reactions to Detroit signing C.J. Gardner-Johnson

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Lions and Eagles players share great reactions to Detroit signing C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Tracking the reactions by Lions and Eagles players to Detroit signing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson from Philadelphia

News spreads quickly when a team signs a coveted free agent. In the wake of the Detroit Lions agreeing to a one-year deal with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, players from both Detroit and Gardner-Johnson’s old team in Philadelphia took to social media to show their love for the move.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: What the Lions are getting in the free agent safety

The Florida Gator ties are strong with Gardner-Johnson and linebacker Alex Anzalone, who recently re-signed for three more years in Detroit,

Some other Lions defenders are definitely happy, too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_kfSpOqno/

One of his Eagles teammates offered up some serious praise for Gardner-Johnson, too. Wideout A.J. Brown had this to say:

Former Lions CB Darius Slay shared a similar thought,

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: What the Lions are getting in the free agent safety

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: Breaking down what the Lions are getting in the free agent safety

The Lions made a big splash at the end of the first week of free agency. Numerous reports indicate the Lions have signed free agent safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to a one-year contract worth $8 million.

It’s a below-market value signing by Gardner-Johnson, who was arguably the top remaining unsigned free agent. The versatile DB is an instant starter in Detroit and gets to play for familiar faces.

Gardner-Johnson spent his first three seasons with the New Orleans Saints before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles last summer. Lions head coach Dan Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn coached Gardner-Johnson in the first two years in New Orleans.

The familiarity helps ease some of the concerns about the versatile defensive back. His truculent personality has been an issue for Gardner-Johnson with both opponents and (sometimes) teammates. He’s an agitator on the field, bringing a vocal edge the Lions secondary hasn’t really had lately.

Gardner-Johnson played the slot/nickel role in New Orleans with Glenn as his position coach, and that’s his presumptive role in Detroit. He did play more deep coverage in a split safety look with the Eagles.

He’s a natural ballhawk. Gardner-Johnson picked off a league-leading six passes in just 12 games for the Eagles and broke up eight others. He’s very good at jumping routes and playing the ball in the air.

A kidney injury cost him five full games and parts of two others near the end of the season, though he did return in full for the Eagles’ postseason run. He also missed five games for the Saints in 2021, including a 4-game stint on injured reserve. He plays a full-throttle style that does leave him vulnerable, though the one-year contract mitigates a lot of the risk there.

Overall, it’s a great fit for a rising young Lions defensive core, one that also features free agent CBs Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley. Gardner-Johnson’s versatility, playmaking ability and big-game experience are a fantastic addition and value for the Lions.

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Lions sign safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Lions sign safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson o a one-year contract

Just when you thought it was safe to go to bed on a Sunday night, Lions GM Brad Holmes strikes with a big free agent signing.

Per numerous sources, the Lions are signing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson as a free agent. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network confirms it’s a one-year deal worth $8 million total, of which $6.5 million is guaranteed.

Gardner-Johnson spent 2022 in Philadelphia after being traded by the New Orleans Saints. He played in New Orleans under Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and head coach Dan Campbell.

Gardner-Johnson is primarily a safety but the plays the nickel/slot role as well as more traditional split safety looks.

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The 20 best remaining players after Day 1 of NFL free agency

Most of the big fish are gone, but a lot of stars and quality starters are just waiting to be snatched up.

I know it’s tough to process while in the moment, with new agreements seemingly flying around every other minute, but not every player is signed on the first day of NFL free agency.

In fact, if we took an honest look at the proceedings, many worthwhile stars, solid contributors, and depth guys are still sitting on the board after a whirlwind first day. Even if teams like the Chicago Bears were among the bigger initial winners, and even if squads like the San Francisco 49ers continue to get richer defensively, there’s still a lot of time left before the free-agent dust settles.

Let’s take a quick look at the 20 best players remaining in 2023 NFL free agency (by my estimation) as we head into Day 2. Remember: most of these guys aren’t likened to last much longer on the open market.

Super Bowl LVII’s Secret Superstars

Who are the players capable of playing their best in the biggest games of their lives? Here are the Secret Superstars of Super Bowl LVII.

There are players in just about every Super Bowl who, quite unexpectedly, save their greatest performances for the biggest games of their lives. Packers receiver Max McGee tearing up the Chiefs’ esteemed secondary for seven catches, 138 yards, and two touchdowns in Super Bowl I. Jets running back Matt Snell doing what nobody else could do in Super Bowl III, and tearing through the Colts’ defensive line for 30 carries, 138 yards, and a touchdown. Raiders linebacker Rob Martin picking off three Ron Jaworski passes in Super Bowl XV. Doug Williams resuscitating his career and becoming the first Black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl, win a Super Bowl, and become Super Bowl MVP in one fell swoop in Super Bowl XXII against the Broncos. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles helping his team win its first Super Bowl in LII.

Who could be the Secret Superstar of Super Bowl LVII? There are several candidates who, based on their in-season exploits, might be perfectly primed to take that all-important leap.

Here are the Secret Superstars of Super Bowl LVII.