Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts, specifically their defense, underwent an overnight transformation with one phone call. After months of inconsistent play in the passing game on defense, Colts general manager Chris Ballard secured the biggest move of his tenure by trading two first-round picks and second-year WR AD Mitchell to the New York Jets for lockdown corner Sauce Gardner — a move that Owner/CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon helped push forward.
The Colts’ top cornerback prior to the trade, Charvarius Ward, had been dealing with lingering concussion(s) throughout the season, and this uncertainty on the boundary made matters worse execution-wise because there was a newfound discouragement in the corner room that played a hand in the pass rush’s shortcomings.
Bringing Sauce Gardner in to fill a void that a player of Charvarius Ward’s caliber demands would be a homerun pivot in any scenario, but to bring in Gardner to alleviate concern in the meantime, with Ward set to return not soon thereafter? Now, that’s a grand slam. Carlie Irsay-Gordon asked Chris Ballard, “Do you want to Band-Aid it or fix it for the long term?” and this result would suggest he wanted the latter to happen.
As far as what a cornerback tandem of Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward would look like, only time will tell. That’s not at all meant to serve as a lazy excuse, but rather, pose the question of, “When was the last time a defense had two legitimate number one overall cornerbacks?” They’re not just complementary to one another, either. Gardner and Ward are both lockdown corners. These are two field shrinkers running in tandem, and then you bring Kenny Moore II, arguably the best slot corner in the league at any given time, into the equation, and this cornerback room is terrifying on paper, and Gardner is excited for what it’ll look like.
“Charvarius [Ward] has been a dawg, since he was in Kansas City. I’m looking forward to going out there together and putting on a clinic. From afar, he’s always been that guy.”
The mere idea of two lockdown corners on the same defense is both ideal for the team employing them and equally as concerning for the rest of the league. Adding Kenny Moore II into the mix only raises both the floor and ceiling of what this trio can accomplish, and Sauce Gardner was eternally grateful for his efforts in helping bring Gardner to speed after a quick turnaround after being traded.
“When I got out there [on the field in Berlin, Germany], I just wanted the guys to be able to trust that I know what I’m doing, so I had to put in extra work, and [Kenny Moore II] was a huge reason why I was able to go out there and know what I got to do,” Gardner explained how Moore II helped acclimate him to Indy’s defense.
On the flip side, Kenny Moore II was impressed with Gardner’s first game action after the aforementioned quick turnaround, saying, “He just elevated the entire room. It’s impressive how he was able to adjust to everything we had going into the game plan. We didn’t slow up at all, trying to communicate or getting the checks in the game…during his first walkthrough, Gardner said, ‘Don’t slow up for me, I want to be able to catch up with y’all.’”
So far, so good. Gardner had a strong debut with the Colts across the pond as he did his job in limiting Falcons star WR Drake London to just 2 catches on 4 targets and 26 yards, plus a 2-point conversion. This was also the first look at a Lou Anarumo Colts defense with 1 of its 3 best players, as Charvarius Ward works back from injured reserve, and DeForest Buckner spent his first game out as a new member on IR.
Losing DeForest Buckner for any amount of time could very well prove to be detrimental to the team’s end goals; however, so long as the defense led by Sauce Gardner can stay afloat, reinforcements will soon arrive. The assumption was that the pass rush would improve by adding Gardner to the mix, but given that pass rush and coverage go hand in hand, immediately losing Buckner while adding Gardner almost evens it out. There have only been four games this year where the Colts’ defense has had Buckner and a lockdown corner available. Soon, there will be the first instance of the Colts’ defense having two lockdown corners on the field, with the end product in question (i.e., a healthy trio of Buckner, Gardner, and Ward) looking to be about a month away.
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