Teammates and analysts observe improvements in the DB’s coverage and leadership.
Ceedy Duce is a menace, in all of the right ways.
The 24-year-old is about to enter the final year of his rookie contract. The Florida Gator has quickly emerged as a key piece of the New Orleans Saints’ secondary, which has picked up even more talent this offseason.
The Saints started training camp on Thursday, July 28. Though only three days’ worth of practice have taken place, several players have begun to show off their refined skills. Gardner-Johnson appears to be one of them.
On Saturday’s practice, he intercepted Jameis Winston’s very first pass of the day.
The pass was a short quick-out route intended for Deonte Harty. Gardner-Johnson made a quick read on the pass and intercepted the ball for what would have been a pick-six.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) with one of the big plays of #Saints training camp on Saturday, intercepts Jameis Winston, takes it for the TD. @FOX8NOLA pic.twitter.com/GQpzaZKQby
— Garland Gillen (@garlandgillen) July 30, 2022
Duce’s initial role with the team was expected to be more of a hard-hitting safety that has the ability to apply tight coverage to larger targets. In the 2021 season, the DB appeared to make a leap in his coverage ability, recording his career high in interceptions (3) while only playing in 12 out of 17 games.
In the first few days of training camp, several signs point to C.J. attempting to take on a bigger leadership role on the team. Not only was the DB seen encouraging younger players, new face Jarvis Landry made some interesting comments about his charismatic leadership.
Landry was known for his leadership abilities during his time with the Cleveland Browns, which was captured during a 2018 episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Notice how Landry stressed the element of weakness being “contagious” in the same way that he sees Gardner-Johnson’s positive attitude is also contagious.
*WARNING: HARSH LANGUAGE*
Never forget Jarvis Landry’s #Browns Hard Knocks speech pic.twitter.com/ei8TrLS0b3
— betJACK (@betJACK) March 14, 2022
Landry also commented on the ability that Duce has to mentally dominate his opponents. Even Landry’s mother warned her son about him.
To paraphrase Jarvis Landry: CJ Gardner-Johnson is that DB your mom warned you about #Saints pic.twitter.com/8DVIx2kxZz
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) July 30, 2022
The Saints resume training camp today in preparation for the 2022 season. Though C.J. left practice early on Saturday, he appears to be 100% healthy and ready to compete for the remainder of training camp.
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