According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, and an annual league survey conducted by league executives, coaches, and scouts, Indianapolis Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner surprisingly slid in the latest rankings—descending from 5th to 9th overall at his position following his trade from the New York Jets :
9. Sauce Gardner, Indianapolis Colts
Highest ranking: 5 | Lowest ranking: Unranked
Age: 24 | Last year’s ranking: 5Once again, Gardner is the most polarizing cornerback on the list. He’s a star player who is paid
like one and garnered two first-round picks in a midseason trade from the New York Jets to the Colts. He has long been a Pro Football Focus favorite. He has rare length for the position and breaks up passes at a high rate.
But his turnover production is poor — only three interceptions in four NFL seasons — and several evaluators have pointed out he misses tackles and holds too much.
“Sauce lost the sauce,” an NFL offensive coach said. “Now, he got traded for a reason — he’s a long strider and has the confidence to overshadow his weaknesses. He can press and play Cover 2. But he’s not going to tackle all the time, he’s not going to crack replace, and when playing zone, sometimes he’s not playing it correctly. It’s just hard for him to hold up over the course of the game.”
Some coaches noted that a full season with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, a defensive backs coach by trade, will help his consistency.
To be sure, Gardner’s nine pass breakups on 293 coverage snaps (3.1%) last season led the league based on percentage. And his 39 passes defended since entering the league in 2022 ties with Ward for second most by any player over that span, trailing only Alontae Taylor (40).
“Not many move like him,” an NFL personnel evaluator said. “He moves like a much smaller man. But he’s not making plays at the same rate he was.”
To me, it looks like Gardner was penalized in these latest rankings for two reasons: 1) he doesn’t generate takeaways like some of his peers, as he had 0 interceptions in 2025 for a consecutive year, and 2) he missed 6 games—five of which were with the Colts in the final stretch run of the season due to a lingering calf injury.
Regarding #1 though, it’s hard to fault a player for a lack of generating turnovers when they aren’t being targeted due to their sticky coverage. With Gardner blanketing opposing receivers, opposing quarterbacks may simply target his other teammates at cornerback instead.
As for the “he got traded for a reason” anonymous league circle quote, so did Pro Football Hall of Famer Champ Bailey in his prime once upon a time from the Washington organization to the Denver Broncos. Not to mention, another fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis from the New York Jets to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so that’s just lazy analysis in my honest opinion.
On the 2025 season with both the Jets and Colts, Gardner finished with 36 tackles (28 solo) and 9 passes defensed during 11 collective starts. Per PFF, Gardner was their 10th best ranked cornerback overall this past season with a +76.9 overall grade.
Still only 24-years-old, the former 2x NFL First-Team All-Pro cornerback is projected to be among the top players at his position for the foreseeable future, and by being more comfortable with a full offseason with Colts veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him climb these rankings again.
