The 2024 NFL season is just going from bad to worse for the New York Jets.
After acquiring a veteran playmaker in longtime Packer Aaron Rodgers during the offseason and surrounding him with a plethora of dangerous weapons, including returning star WR Garrett Wilson, Rodgers’ former partner in crime Allan Lazard, and a high-powered defense in all aspects, the team’s inaugural six games were quite poor.
The Jets amassed a 2-4 record by that point in the campaign but there were still excuses to be made, including a lack of adequate air and ground support for Rodgers. Heavyweight measures have been taken since, the most notable of which was the trade that brought in another of Aaron Rodgers’ ex-Packers teammates – WR Davante Adams. However, NY’s record speaks loudly with regards to the Jets’ inability to turn their season around, the ballclub standing at 3-8 heading into their Week 12 bye with just one win in 5 games since Adams’ arrival in East Rutherford.
New York’s defense, and its secondary unit in particular, is amongst the silver linings of a lost season. Yet, the faction threatens to maintain a state of vulnerability for the remainder of 2024 due to the decline of its most avid member – cornerback Ahmad Gardner.
A Focus on Gardner’s 2024 Performance
Sauce Gardner’s track record so far this year can only be described with one word – miserable. According to Pro Football Reference, out of 42 targets to receivers covered by the Cincinnati alumnus, 27 have been completed for a conceded passer rating of 110.0. This is the highest mark amongst all Jets defensive backs with at least 10 targets. Moreover, this figure is also the 12th-highest in the league (at least 40 targets).
For a team that ranks 14th against the pass, this is a truly worrying output and poses the question of just how much this trend can jeopardize the passing defense’s otherwise positive year.
Gardner’s woes were on display as recently as the Jets’ latest home defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday. Of course, when it comes to the Colts showdown, his performance will be best remembered with the blown coverage on a crucial 39-yard completion from Anthony Richardson to Alex Pierce on Indy’s fourth-quarter, game-winning drive. Yet, it needs to be mentioned that he also allowed a 31-yard reception by Adonai Mitchell on the opening drive of the game. All in all, all three targets against Sauce were completed for 56 yards.
It is very clear that Sauce Gardner’s 2024 downturn comes as shocking when compared to the moderate success that the rest of the unit has had. However, this phenomenon has been just as uncommon in light of an evaluation of his previous two campaigns on the professional level.
Man, Adonai Mitchell 😰😰😰 pic.twitter.com/63fbm66tk9
— Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL) November 17, 2024
The Overall Direction of His Career
The former Cincinnati Bearcats cornerback was drafted by New York with the fourth overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, setting the bar of expectation very high. His first two seasons in the pro ranks certainly did much to cement his case.
In 2022 and 2023, Sauce Gardner allowed passer rating figures of merely 62.7 and 80.3, respectively. On both occasions, he was a Pro Bowler and a First-Team All-Pro, played more than 98% of the Jets’
defensive snaps, and registered completion percentage under 60 percent in coverage.
This year, the rating has, as already demonstrated, jumped to 110.0 while the completion percentage is almost 65%. Words such as “turbulent” and “disappointing” don’t even come to speak accurately of his statistical turnout in light of the star status he had maintained ever since Draft Night in Vegas.
Ahmad Gardner was clearly on his way to being crowned one of the best pass defenders in the National Football League, if not the best. In 2024, he has come crashing down, even against the most subpar receivers, as Mitchell and Pierce of Indianapolis proved just a few days ago.
His Future Outlook
A campaign now hard to salvage, it would still be too harsh to drastically lower the expectation for Gardner’s upcoming seasons past 2024. His ability to come back from this nightmare will depend on a multitude of factors, including some beyond his control, such as New York’s choice for the next permanent head coach.
On a positive note, with the standard of play within that secondary stable relatively high, the pressure will be on Gardner to get his game back on track as soon as possible, starting from the Jets’ Week 12 welcoming of the Seattle Seahawks.
Whether he is able to improve when push comes to shove will be what shows whether his 2022-2023 value was realistic or merely the newcomer’s luck.
Teodor Tsenov is an aspiring sportswriter and a HBO Bachelor of Arts graduate in International Sports Management at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in The Hague, the Netherlands. Moreover, he has previously covered NFL, MLB, the New York Jets and the Miami Marlins for Franchise Sports (UK) and Overtime Heroics (USA). You can reach out to him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, and via email tedogoshov@gmail.com.
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