Detroit Lions First Round Target #5: Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner
The Lions secondary needs work. Aaron Rodgers is staying in Green Bay and that alone is enough to reconsider how to build a defense in the NFC North. As previously mentioned, the Lions have Jeff Okudah and they also just added Mike Hughes to the secondary. However, the cornerback unit still needs work in Detroit.
While Kyle Hamilton is the best defensive back in this class, some front offices value cornerbacks and safeties much differently. If Detroit is one of those front offices, a cornerback could be the preference to improve the secondary group.
Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner is an intriguing prospect. He was electric at Cincinnati, but some still don’t consider him the top cornerback, let alone the second best player in the class. However, what makes Hamilton intriguing as a safety applies to Gardner as well.
Gardner can do just about everything in coverage. He knocked down 16 passes as a Bearcat and intercepted another nine. He even made his way into the backfield for five tackles for loss and three sacks.
Gardner tested off the charts at the combine, being the fifth player on the “Next Gen Stats” grading system of the entire Combine. That paired with another Legion of Boom member comparison, Richard Sherman, illustrates why looking at Gardner could be worth Detroit’s time with the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.