Why New York Jets Cornerback Sauce Gardner Won’t Shadow Top Wide Receivers

“I’m always looking forward to the challenge,” Gardner told reporters during the team’s OTAs. “I’d like to call myself one of the best in the game, if not the best. I’m always open to compete. I always want to challenge myself, challenge other people. But, ultimately, I just want to do whatever it takes for the team to win because that’s what it’s all about — winning games.”

Beyond confidence, by any metric, Gardner is one of the top cornerbacks in the sport.

As Pro Football Focus points out, Gardner was only targeted 124 times through his first two seasons, and, in 2023 quarterbacks posted a meager 76.5 passer rating when throwing his direction.

Will New York Jets CB Sauce Gardner Travel Against Top WRs?

Gardner rates as one of the stingiest cornerbacks in the league, grading in at least the 97th percentile in seven key metrics by PFF.

As Pro Football Focus explains: Since 2022, only 17.7% of Gardner’s targets have resulted in a dropped pass or off-target incompletion, which is actually lower than the NFL average over that time (18.5%).

Given Gardner’s consistently dominant level of play, it would make sense that the Jets would deploy him to travel against the opponent’s top receivers.

But, that seems like it’s going to be unlikely, according to ESPN’s Rich Crimini.

As Crimini points out, the Jets primarily play a zone-defense and the depth at corner, in D.J. Reed and Michael Carter make having any of the cornerbacks “travel” unnecessary.

Given the elite receivers on the schedule, head coach Robert Saleh enters the 2024 campaign confident in the entire secondary, especially Gardner, being able to hold their own.

“He’s a weapon we can use from the defensive standpoint, but to say it’ll be exclusive, I’m not going to say that,” Saleh told reporters. “He did last year. To say he might do a little bit more, that’s a possibility. But I think it’s going to be more game to game.”