.jpg){kind=link}
Cornerback, Cincinnati, 2019–21
Sauce Gardner
- Number
- No. 12
- Height
- 6′2″
- Weight
- 188 lb
- Class (2021)
- Junior
- Hometown
- Detroit, MI
- Born
- Aug 31, 2001, in Detroit, Michigan
Wikipedia readers: about 28,374 a month over the past year
Sauce Gardner played cornerback at Cincinnati (2019–21). He was a consensus All‑American in 2021. The New York Jets took Gardner in the first round, No. 4 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
8tackles, career hightwice; last at East Carolina, 2021Honors
Team titles: American champions, 2020 and 2021
All-America: consensus 2021; FWAA 2020; Phil Steele 2020; USA Today 2020
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Defense
| Season | Team | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Cincinnati | 31 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 28 | 16 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 40 | 28 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Career | 99 | 68 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 9 | 18 | 1 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Cincinnati | 12 | CB | Fr. | ||
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 12 | CB | So. | ||
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 12 | CB | Jr. | 6′2″ | 188 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2021 Cincinnati 13 games, 40 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4 | vs. Miami (OH) | W 49–14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 11 | vs. Murray State | W 42–7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 18 | at Indiana | W 38–24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 2 | at Notre Dame | W 24–13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Oct 8 | vs. Temple | W 52–3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 16 | vs. UCF | W 56–21 | 6 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 23 | at Navy | W 27–20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 30 | at Tulane | W 31–12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 6 | vs. Tulsa | W 28–20 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 12 | at South Florida | W 45–28 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 26 | at East Carolina | W 35–13 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dec 4 | vs. Houston | W 35–20 | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 31 ✦ | vs. Alabama | L 6–27 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2020 Cincinnati 9 games, 28 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 3 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19 | vs. Austin Peay | W 55–20 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 26 | vs. Army | W 24–10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Oct 3 | vs.South Florida | W 28–7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Oct 24 | at SMU | W 42–13 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 31 | vs. Memphis | W 49–10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 7 | vs.Houston | W 38–10 | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 13 | vs.East Carolina | W 55–17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 21 | atUCF | W 36–33 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dec 19 | vs.Tulsa | W 27–24 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 Cincinnati 11 games, 31 tackles, 3 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14 | vs.Miami (OH) | W 35–13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 4 | vs.UCF | W 27–24 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Oct 12 | atHouston | W 38–23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 19 | vs.Tulsa | W 24–13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nov 2 | atEast Carolina | W 46–43 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Nov 9 | vs. UConn | W 48–3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 16 | atSouth Florida | W 20–17 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 23 | vs.Temple | W 15–13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 29 | atMemphis | L 24–34 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dec 7 | atMemphis | L 24–29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jan 2 ✦ | vs. Boston College | W 38–6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2022 |
|---|---|
| Height | 6′2¾″ |
| Weight | 190 lb |
| Arm length | 33½″ |
| Hand size | 9⅝″ |
| Wingspan | 79⅜″ |
| 40-yard dash | 4.41 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.54 s |
Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
5 seasons, 63 games with a stat; latest team: Indianapolis Colts.
Pro Bowls: 2 (2022–23) · First-team All-Pro (AP): 2 (2022–23)
All-Pro teams: AP first team 2022–23; Pro Football Writers first team 2022–23; Sporting News first team 2022–23.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | New York Jets | 17 | 70 | 0 | 2 |
| 2023 | New York Jets | 16 | 55 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | New York Jets | 15 | 42 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | Indianapolis Colts | 10 | 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 (so far) | Indianapolis Colts | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| NFL career | 63 | 219 | 1 | 3 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Is this you, or do you know of something wrong or missing here? Suggest a correction. We check each one against a source before changing the page.