Ahmad Gardner: Three Teams in Top-10 'Like me a lot'

Gardner talked about a wide range of topics in a fun interview on The Rich Eisen Show.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Apr 27, 2022 9:48 AM EDT

CINCINNATI — The 2022 NFL Draft is nearly here, and it's all smiles for former Bearcats cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner. The consensus top-ranked cornerback in this class joined The Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday and covered everything from which team's he's talked with to when Luke Fickell will finally use his nickname.

Gardner is nearly a lock to be Cincinnati's first top-10 pick in over fifty years but he shed some light on which teams in that range have talked to him the most.

"I've been talking to the (Houston) Texans," Gardner said. "I talked to the (New York) Jets, your favorite team. I talked to the (New York) Giants. I talked to a lot of teams. I feel like they are pressing—they like me a lot. That probably wasn't the right word to use, but they just express how they like me."

Sauce is a beloved nickname in college football, but one important voice in Gardner's life isn't calling him by it until one thing happens.

"Coach Fick," Gardner responded. "He still don't call me Sauce. He said he'll do it when I get drafted. He's gonna be here on Thursday night. You best believe when I hear my name called—imma be looking forward to it. For sure, he's not leaving Vegas without calling me Sauce."

Gardner is the consensus sixth-best player in the draft and the top-ranked cornerback. His most common mock draft home is with the Jets (24% of mocks in past week). All the talk about the Big Apple, got Eisen interested in what kind of sauces the corner actually likes himself.

"I like all the sauces man," Gardner said when asked what his favorite one was. "I like Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. I feel like you can put it on everything."

Eisen then ran through a gammut of other sauces and landed on apple.

"Apple sauce?" Gardner said. "I grew up eating apple sauce."

"Ok, very good," Eisen said. "I just asked a grown ass man if he eats apple sauce. I did that TJ."

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