What was the weakness of New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner as a rookie in the 2022 NFL season?
Sauce Gardner dominated as a rookie cornerback in 2022. He could defend the short pass with his acceleration. He blitzed quarterbacks with his speed like he did against Teddy Bridgewater of Miami Dolphins in Week 5. He has the speed to defend deep passes from QBs.
But his main weakness is he has no awareness of the football when quarterbacks throw deep against him. He doesn’t turn his head to locate the ball in order to make a play. He struggled to react quickly and was caught off guard many times during the NFL season.
Here are several examples:
In Week 7, Denver Broncos QB Brett Rypien tested Gardner with 2 minutes to play in the 4th quarter on 4th down and 3 at the Jets 22 yard line against receiver Courtland Sutton. As the ball was thrown into the endzone, the Jets cornerback grabbed onto the WR’s back jersey and blindly put up his left arm to disrupt the pass. The ball fell from Sutton’s hands and the Jets won 16-9. If Sauce had better awareness of where the ball was coming from, he would have defended the football better and not just flailed up his arm.
In Week 9, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen threw a deep pass to receiver Gabe Davis with 33 seconds to play in the 4th quarter on 4th down and 21 from the Bills 14 yard line. Sauce didn’t turn his head once to locate the ball but instead flailed up his right arm twice. After he missed swatting the football away with the first attempt, the ball hit Davis right in the chest but Gabe failed to catch it. After the ball had gone through Gabe’s hands, Gardner’s second pass deflection attempt hit the receiver’s helmet. Luckily the Jets won 20-17 on the Bills last offensive play even though the cornerback did a terrible job defending the deep pass.
In Week 17, Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith threw a deep pass to receiver DK Metcalf in the 4th quarter on 3rd down and 7. This was Gardner’s worst performance of the season against the deep pass. He trailed the WR by half a step and and never looked back for the football. Metcalf wasn’t able to catch the ball and the Seahawks punted on 4th down. Sauce looked completely lost on the play and almost gave up a 1st down in a close game with the Jets down 20-6 with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
Gardner’s biggest weakness was defending the deep pass. He needs to improve his awareness by looking back for the football. This will help him to react quickly enough to intercept or deflect the ball. When he is able to make plays against deep passes, he will become a complete cornerback for Gang Green in the future.
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