Jets' Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner plans to 'dominate' opponents during rookie season

As Josh Edwards noted for CBS Sports, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner earned a reputation for being a shutdown cornerback during his collegiate career with the Cincinnati Bearcats. 

"The Detroit native was targeted on just 8.5% of coverage snaps for the Bearcats last season, according to TruMedia," Edwards wrote. "He allowed zero completions of 20-plus yards in his final collegiate season and zero touchdowns during his entire collegiate career." 

The New York Jets were clearly impressed and spent the fourth overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft to land Gardner. Jets head coach Robert Saleh confirmed expected news and announced on Sunday that Gardner will start the Week 1 home game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 11, and the defensive back who turns 22 years old on Wednesday spoke with Rich Cimini of ESPN and left no doubt he's confident in his abilities.

"I think it's going to be different than how most rookie seasons are," Gardner explained. "People always talk about this rookie wall, things like that. I take football real serious, but at the same time, I have fun with it. I feel like that's why I'm able to have so much success. When I'm on the field, I'm smiling and have a lot of fun with it.

"Everything comes natural," Gardner added during his comments. "I don't think I'm going to run into the quote-unquote rookie wall. I think I'll just be able to go out there and dominate whoever lines up in front of [me]."

Playing off a nickname he earned during his youth football days, Gardner has signed a deal with Buffalo Wild Wings for a new "Sauce Sauce" product that will first become available in restaurants later this week.