(Photo: NJ.com)
The first time I saw Ahmad Gardner was back in college playing for the University of Cincinnati. Before deciding to play his college ball for the Bearcats, the guy known as “Sauce” had offers from several schools such as Akron, Alabama A&M, Ball State, Bowling Green and Illinois to name a few. In his freshman year, he played in 11 games and had recorded 31 tackles and three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. In his second year. Sauce was a starter on the depth chart and was a big contributor for a Cincinnati team that became the first group of five team to make the College Football Playoff. As expected, he declared for the 2022 NFL Draft where he would be selected by the New York Jets in the first round with the fourth overall pick. Today, the Jets have rewarded their young Defensive Back with a contract extension, a four-year, $130 million deal which makes him the highest-paid Cornerback in the league today.
Since becoming a professional, Sauce has become one of the three best Cornerbacks in the NFL and entered his rookie season making an immediate impact. The first thing you notice with him is his length as he is a taller Cornerback standing at 6’3 and weighing 198 pounds which is the build of many Wide Receivers and Sauce actually played Wide Receiver during his high school playing days in Detroit. To be so young, he plays with so much swagger and confidence and when you’re around a guy like that, that can be contagious in a good way to the others playing around you as they feed off that energy. In his rookie season, he came in knowing he was that guy and you can’t say that about many first-year players as many of them are still trying to get their feet wet at the next level. That wasn’t Sauce at all as he came in and just took full advantage of the opportunities ahead. He can travel with any receiver and run the route step for step with the receiver because he was once the guy he is defending as I mentioned up top and as a Quarterback, you can think you put the ball in a place to where only your intended receiver can get to it, then here comes Sauce out of nowhere with his long arms and strides to make a play which means his IQ is phenomenal. I love the ability that Sauce has to read and react as he can sit back in coverage, wait for the receiver to break into the route, then he makes his play which is either an interception or he’s make a tackle. At the line, he displays the patience of a five-year veteran and is never too aggressive. Sauce also understands route schemes and will move step for step with who he’s matched up with. Sauce is at his best in zone coverage as he can disguise his looks by making you think he’s defending one guy, but has his eyes on someone else.
Sauce has been the best Cornerback the Jets have had since the days of the island, better known as Darrelle Revis and the Hall of Famer has paid the young defender some compliments stating he loves the way Sauce plays and how he approaches the game plus, he has the potential to carry the torch to be a great Cornerback. Darrelle also stated after the Jets drafted Sauce, the defense has an identity once again similar to how they did during the Rex Ryan days. This is a well deserved deal for one of the great young players in our league.
