Was Sauce as bad as he’s been portrayed last season?
New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner has been among the best at his craft since entering the NFL in 2022. Since then, Gardner has racked up the accolades, including being named an All Pro twice in just three seasons.
This season was a bit different for Gardner though. While he previously drew near unanimous praise for his play, 2024 was marked by some injuries and (relatively speaking) more on-field struggles that left Jets fans and the media wanting more. In the end, his statistical output was still quite impressive but the narrative around his play this season never really matched it.
Sauce Gardner 2024 coverage stats (via PFF):
– 490 cover snaps
– 25/47 passing (53.2%)
– 391 yds
– 1 TD, 1 INTHe was one of only 3 CBs to allow <2 TDs and 400 coverage snaps:
– Cooper DeJean
– Sauce Gardner
– Pat SurtainOverhated player for no reason
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) February 15, 2025
Recently, Pro Football Focus released their top 100 NFL players, which featured one New York Jet: Sauce Gardner at number 99. That marks a pretty steep fall for Gardner, who was ranked 33rd last season.
Top 101 NFL players from the 2024 season:
#99: CB Sauce Gardner
25.5% forced incompletion rate (1st) pic.twitter.com/K0mZReoKc9
— PFF (@PFF) February 17, 2025
Among their top 100, this would rank Gardner as the 10th best cornerback in the last season. Personally, that seems a little low to me. What do you think? Is Gardner’s fall from grace in the PFF rankings fair or foul?