2022 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner

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Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner, 6-3/200 Cornerback Cincinnati

Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Instinctive

Rare skill set as a man-cover corner

Ideal height

Fast

Size to match up against big receivers

Fast to match up against speed receivers

Covers receivers deep over the top

Doesn’t need safety help

Excellent ball skills

Can jump

Skilled to high-point ball and out-leap receivers

Very adept at breaking up passes

Soft hands to intercept passes

Dangerous threat to take the ball away

Body control

Agile

Can flip his hips and run

Can play press man

Capable of playing off man

Twitch enough to play in zone

Aggressive mentality

Good vision, eye discipline

Should be able to play quickly

Weaknesses:

A little lean

A little tight

Off-the-field associates bring some concern/questions

Summary: Gardner spent the last three years as one of the most consistent cover corners in college football. As a freshman in 2019, he had an impressive debut with 31 tackles, three interceptions and eight passes defended. His production was nearly identical in 2020 despite fewer games, recording 28 tackles, three picks and six pass breakups. Gardner was an elite shutdown corner for the Bearcats in 2021, recording 40 tackles, three interceptions and four passes broken up. The junior played all year, including in the playoff matchup versus Alabama.

Gardner is a complete player with natural cover ability. He is fast, tall, long, athletic and has excellent instincts. Gardner shows the speed and fluidity to be a man-cover corner who can run the route and prevent separation. Displaying impressive recoverability, Gardner has a burst to close, and his length helps him to smother the gap. Gardner has the size to play press man, yet he possesses enough speed and fluidity to play off man. He also has enough twitch to play zone coverage, and his instincts help him to jump routes to break up passes.

On top of his cover ability, Gardner has excellent ball skills. His hands are superb, and he is a real threat to pick off passes. His length makes it tough to get passes around him, and he is very adept at smacking away passes while leaping in the air. Given his height and his ability to jump, Gardner is a weapon for covering big receivers downfield.



While Gardner is not overly physical to draw pass interference penalties, he gets physical when the time calls, including when it comes for tackling. NFL receivers won’t be able to push Gardner around.

For the NFL, Gardner looks like a No. 1 corner who has Pro Bowl potential early in his career. Before long, he could be one of the top cover corners in the league.



Player Comparison: Jalen Ramsey. Some NFL team sources have compared Gardner to Ramsey. They said noted both were a little tight, and that was why Ramsey played some safety at Florida State. Both, hoewver, are big, fast, instinctive, and possess serious ball skills.

2022 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2022 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Adam Anderson, OLB, Georgia Calvin Austin, WR, Memphis Tyler Badie, RB, Missouri Amaré Barno, OLB, Virginia Tech Andrew Booth, CB, Clemson David Bell, WR, Purdue Nik Bonitto, OLB, Oklahoma Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas Zachary Carter, DE, Florida Leo Chenal, LB, Wisconsin Lewis Cine, S, Georgia Damone Clark, LB, LSU Micheal Clemons, DE, Texas A&M Bryan Cook, S, Cincinnati James Cook, RB, Georgia Yusuf Corker, S, Kentucky Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State Nick Cross, S, Maryland Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State Greg Dulcich, TE, UCLA Arnold Ebiketie, DE, Penn State Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida Ikem Ekwonu, OT, N.C. State Martin Emerson, CB, Mississippi State Kingsley Enagbare, DE, South Carolina Daniel Faalele, OT, Minnesota Luke Fortner, C, Kentucky Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner, CB, Cincinnati Luke Goedeke, G, Central Michigan Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington Kenyon Green, G, Texas A&M Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State Logan Hall, DE, Houston Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame Christian Harris, LB, Alabama Daxton Hill, S, Michigan Chasen Hines, G, LSU Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan Ed Ingram, G, LSU Drake Jackson, DE, USC Jermaine Johnson, DE, Florida State Zion Johnson, G, Boston College Travis Jones, DT, Connecticut Kerby Joseph, S, Illinois Cam Jurgens, C, Nebraska George Karlaftis, DE, Purdue Darian Kinnard, OT, Kentucky Charlie Kolar, TE, Iowa State DeMarvin Leal, DT, Texas A&M Isaiah Likely, TE, Coastal Carolina Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah Drake London, WR, USC Abraham Lucas, OT, Washington State Boye Mafe, DE, Minnesota Phidarian Mathis, DT, Alabama Trey McBride, TE, Colorado State Roger McCreary, CB, Auburn Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington Verone McKinley, S, Oregon John Metchie, WR, Alabama Skyy Moore, WR, Western Michigan Chad Muma, LB, Wyoming David Ojabo, DE, Michigan Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State Cade Otton, TE, Washington Evan Neal, OT, Alabama Josh Paschal, DE, Kentucky Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa Nick Petit-Frere, OT, Ohio State George Pickens, WR, Georgia Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh Alec Pierce, WR, Cincinnati Dameon Pierce, RB, Florida Jalen Pitre, S, Baylor Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati John Ridgeway, DT, Arkansas Brian Robinson, RB, Alabama Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, Kentucky Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson Jeremy Ruckert, TE, Ohio State Jamaree Salyer, G, Georgia Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M Derek Stingley, CB, LSU Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon Cameron Thomas, DE, San Diego State Tyquan Thornton, WR, Baylor Kenneth Walker, RB, Michigan State Rasheed Walker, OT, Penn State Quay Walker, LB, Georgia Travon Walker, DE, Georgia Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State Zamir White, RB, Georgia Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama Malik Willis, QB, Liberty Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State Perrion Winfrey, DT, Oklahoma Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA Devonte Wyatt, DT, Georgia Jalen Wydermyer, TE, Texas A&M

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