Before the NFL Draft, there was some thought the Jets might not draft a cornerback with the No. 4-overall pick because head coach Robert Saleh’s system did not value cornerbacks enough to draft one that high. 

The Jets showed that thought was foolish when they selected Sauce Gardner with the No. 4-overall pick. On Friday, Saleh explained why Gardner was an easy choice and why those who believe cornerbacks are not important to him are wrong. 

“I’m not sure on that narrative,” Saleh said. “We drafted Jalen Ramsey, when I was in Jacksonville, with a top-five pick. We had Richard Sherman, obviously he was drafted late in Seattle, but we went out and got him as a free agent in San Francisco. Corner is very important, because it’s everything we talk about on third down and on crunch time when the whole world knows your passing the ball and the whole other side of the world knows you’re in man coverage and it’s a one-on-one football game. That’s difference-making. 

“Sauce has the ability to do that in man coverage, but he has his zone coverage ability, he has tenacity in tackling, which teams do to us. They shorten up formations if you will, to get the corners tackling and all that stuff, especially playing the AFC North this year, that’s all they do for a living is make your corners tackle. The corners are, the perimeter of football is where games are won when you talk about your edge rushers, your tackles, your quarterbacks, receivers, corners. Because like I said, it’s game on the line, everyone knows you’re passing and you’re in man coverage. Corner is very important.” 

The Jets got their first look at Gardner and their other draft picks on Friday during the first practice of the three-day rookie minicamp. It was a brief glimpse, though, because the Jets are not having the draft picks do much in this camp. They are mostly working with the training staff and doing some light drills, while the tryout players and undrafted free agents do more work. 

Gardner said his first day was a thrill, just putting on a Jets uniform. 

“It’s like a dream come true,” Gardner said. “It’s still square one for me at the same time. I still feel like I have a lot to prove. It felt like when I first got to Cincinnati my freshman year. I still have that same mindset, same mentality. I don’t think I’m too good for anybody. I’m still the great teammate I’ve always been. … It hasn’t hit me yet that I’m in the NFL.” 

Gardner did not make any lofty predictions Friday. He said his goal is to be the best teammate he can be right now. 

“I think I can have a good impact,” Gardner said. “I just come in and I know I have vets. I like being a sponge. I just want to soak up as much information as I can from those guys and be the best teammate that I can be.” 

It will be interesting to see how Gardner fits into Saleh’s defense. Gardner was primarily a man-coverage cornerback at Cincinnati. The Jets’ system plays a lot of zone on early downs and man on third downs. Saleh said he can tell Gardner will be a good zone corner just from watching him and talking to him, even though there is not much film of Gardner playing zone. 

“I’m not comparing, but just being with [Richard Sherman], I mean the guy knew the play as soon as they broke the huddle,” Saleh said, “he was like, ‘Oh, I know the play.’ So, he barely had to play football. If his GPS ever reached over 16 miles per hour it was a rough day for him. He’s playing a different game. So, Sauce has a tremendous mental makeup to him that allows him to see the game differently than what most players can.” 

Gardner is hoping to connect with one of his Jets predecessors: Darrelle Revis. The rookie said he has spoken to people from the organization about meeting Revis. 

“He was a great player,” Gardner said. “I enjoyed watching him. I haven’t been able to meet him, but that’s on my bucket list.”