Cat Crave
FanSided

Panthers 2022 draft scouting report: Sauce Gardner brings alpha mindset

By Stephen Sears

(Sam Greene-The Enquirer via IMAGN Content Services) Sauce Gardner
(Sam Greene-The Enquirer via IMAGN Content Services) Sauce Gardner /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Carolina Panthers
(Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports) Sauce Gardner /

The Carolina Panthers may not need another talented young cornerback, but ruling out Sauce Gardner entirely would be foolish given his exceptional skill set.

Last season, the Carolina Panthers cornerback room became one of the deepest and strongest units in the entire NFL. They entered the campaign with a rotation consisting mainly of two veterans in Donte Jackson and A.J. Bouye, and two rookies in Jaycee Horn and Keith Taylor.

Unfortunately, the team would lose Horn due to a season-ending foot injury. But the Panthers would then trade for Stephon Gilmore and a former top-10 draft pick in C.J. Henderson.

Fast forward to today and the Panthers have re-signed Jackson, Horn is looking very healthy on the practice field, and the only real question mark is if Gilmore will return to Carolina. So a lot of Panthers fans may be wondering why in the world would they draft a cornerback in the first round?

Well, the short answer to that question is that teams are always looking to take the best player available regardless of need, and that just might be a cornerback when Carolina is picking at No. 6 overall. The position might also be trending closer to being a need than many would think.

The Panthers’ cornerback options may sound solid when you read the above names. But when you break it down it starts to sound a little suspect.

Horn is returning from a foot injury that forced him to miss 14 games in his rookie year. Henderson didn’t exactly show that he was a first-round talent and is a huge question mark heading into the season. Gilmore (for now) and Bouye are no longer on the team. Jackson was re-signed, but a lot of people may think that isn’t too great of a thing.

If Scott Fitterer and the Panthers front office think they could still use an upgrade at the cornerback position and Sauce Gardner is available, then it wouldn’t be that crazy of an idea to team the Cincinnati product with Horn and Jackson for the next few years.

Let’s take a close look at Gardner and see how he might help the Panthers next season and beyond.

Home/Panthers Draft