The Detroit Lions were set on landing a pass rusher with the No. 2 pick in April’s draft, and coach Dan Campbell said Wednesday they never seriously considered taking New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner with that selection.
“We thought about a lot of different guys, but I never really felt it went there for (general manager) Brad (Holmes) and myself,” Campbell said. “We felt pretty comfortable with where we wanted to go with it.”
Gardner, a Detroit native who attended Detroit King, is the leading candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year and one of the biggest reasons behind the Jets’ defensive turnaround this fall.
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Last season, the Jets finished last in the NFL in points allowed (29.6 ppg) and 30th in pass defense, going 4-13 to earn the fifth pick in the first round.
This year, the Jets are giving up nearly 11 points fewer per game (18.7) and rank in the top five in most defensive categories. At 7-6, they sit just outside the AFC playoff picture, based on tiebreakers.
“He came in believing in himself, and you could just tell, man, he believes that he can compete and he’s not worried about (anything),” Campbell said. “Like, he doesn’t get frazzled if something happens. And those things are going to happen on the perimeter. Every once in a while, corners are going to get beat and you could see that, man, he just goes back for the next one. And that’s what you want in a corner, and he’s got that. So he’s got the skill set, but he’s got the right demeanor and the right attitude and that shows up.”
Gardner has two interceptions and a league-best 16 passes defensed in 13 games.
He is holding opponents to a 52.2% completion rate on passes thrown his way and has allowed one touchdown, according to Pro Football Reference.
The Lions were scheduled to host Gardner on a local day draft visit this spring, but Gardner, who played his college ball at Cincinnati, told the Free Press in April he never made that visit because of travel issues.
The Lions took another local product, Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, with the No. 2 pick, and have not regretted their decision.
Hutchinson leads all rookies with seven sacks, has two interceptions and is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Month. He has the second-best Defensive Rookie of the Year odds (6-to-1) behind Gardner (2-to-9), according to Bet Online.
“He’s a heck of a football player,” Campbell said of Gardner. “And we loved his length, we thought he was pretty smart and pretty crafty. He was aggressive, runs pretty good. Obviously, had a — his resume in college covering pretty good receivers was, it was about as good as you can get. But he fits perfect that defense. I mean, he’d fit perfect in just about any defense. But he’s really grown. He’s really grown. He’s become a pretty dang good corner out there.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.