Sauce Gardner entered the NFL as the flashy cornerback from Cincinnati boasting about not allowing a single touchdown during three college seasons and referring to himself as the “Chosen One.”
Gardner enjoys the spotlight and quickly displayed he thrived under it. The Jets’ No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft delivered a historic rookie season en route to being named the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Many years might go by before another defensive rookie matches the high expectations Gardner exceeded last season. But it wasn’t that long ago that edge rushers Nick Bosa (2019) and Micah Parsons (’21) wrecked the league as rookies.