Oct 16, 2022; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) celebrates defeating the Green Bay Packers by wearing a cheesehead on the field following the game at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports — © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

NFL Execs Vote Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner Runaway Rookie of the Year

No player on any of the awards ballot got more votes than Gardner.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Nov 11, 2022 10:25 AM EST

CINCINNATI — The top NFL executives have spoken, and Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner is their unquestioned Defensive Rookie of the Year. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer polled the group, and Sauce got more votes for an award than any other player on the list.

He garnered 28 votes, while all other rookies totaled ten votes.

"The biggest blowout on the board," Breer wrote. "It’s well-deserved—Gardner leads the NFL (not rookies, the entire league) with 13 pass breakups, has two interceptions, and has come up big in a number of big spots, one being on the Bills’ last offensive snap last Sunday in a huge Jets upset (Sauce recovered on Gabe Davis to knock away Josh Allen’s bid to convert fourth-and-21 with a 70-yard heave).

"Even better, he has star-corner persona to match. “I always tell everybody, I ain’t the average rookie,” Gardner told me postgame Sunday, laughing, as he took me through a play early in the game when Stefon Diggs beat him. “So I gotta take that and I got to make sure I’m trying to be a leader. And I’m being a leader as a rookie, I gotta be vocal. I can’t be one of those people who backs down from challenges. I love competition, so when he caught that play, I told him Alright, let’s go. Let’s do it.” Gardner has, for sure, been doing it."

It's Sauce's world, and we're just living in it. Check out the full numbers behind his stellar rookie season thus far.

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