Sauce Gardner: cleared to play Sunday against Jacksonville (calf)
2 days ago
1 min read
THE FACT. Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner is good to go for Sunday's game at Jacksonville after a calf injury, the team said Friday on Colts.com. NBC Sports' Josh Alper reported Friday that Gardner practiced in full and had missed the recent loss to Minnesota.
THE VERDICT. Gardner's return firms up Indianapolis' coverage and is worth more to the defense than to his own box score. IDP: start him for the floor, not the ceiling, since corners who draw real coverage work see fewer targets and fewer tackles. DFS: treat this as a small knock on Jacksonville's passing game rather than a reason to fade the whole offense, and do not guess at a coverage assignment that has not been reported. Redraft: no move needed.
Respect the update, but the IDP start is where I get off. Gardner's floor is 17 tackles in six games before the calf, four passes defensed, zero picks, about 3.2 points a game, outside the top 140 DBs. That isn't a floor, that's a zero with good coverage grades. He was also down to 22 defensive snaps his last time out. IDP scoring rewards volume, and shutdown corners are the worst volume bet on the field. Any every-down safety or box linebacker beats him Sunday. Great for Indy's defense, not for my lineup.