Add C.J. Gardner-Johnson (nom de guerre: Ceedy Duce) to the list of Saints working hard this offseason to prepare for a big 2021 season. Listed as a safety, Gardner-Johnson mainly lined up in the slot for New Orleans’ nickel defense, which was their most frequent personnel package (dime was second). And he’s teaming up with a personal trainer whose clients include Darius Slay, Odell Beckham Jr., Danielle Hunter, and his former teammate Emmanuel Sanders, with a goal to be the best nickel in the game.
He’s already on his way. Gardner-Johnson improved across the board in his second season (and his first full year as a starter), especially in slot coverage. Among defenders with 350-plus snaps in that role (where Gardner-Johnson played 401 snaps, third-most in the league) Pro Football Focus credited him with the NFL’s fourth-best passer rating allowed.
Athlete: @CGJXXIII
Position: Nickel
Team: @Saints
2021 Goal: To strap all tight ends, WR’s in the slot and RB’s in the slot.
Follow your assigned guy all over the field and just stick with him. pic.twitter.com/K6GEMnC8gb
— Footwork King (@Footwork_King2) April 2, 2021
But there are areas he can improve, which is why he’s sought out this training. Gardner-Johnson doesn’t have the elite agility to keep up with the sport’s best pass catchers one-on-one (his athletic testing showed good, not great, performance). Refining his footwork to move more efficiently in a phone booth will do a lot to help him keep up with their pace, especially when better athletes than him, like Christian McCaffrey, are moved around the formation in search of a mismatch.
Gardner-Johnson could also improve his tackling. He took a step back in that regard, with PFF dinging him for 16 missed tackles in 2020 (a miss rate of 19.8%) after seven misses in 2019 (12.9% miss rate). Pro Football Reference had slightly better numbers, with just 11 misses in 2020 (14.3%) after four missed tackles in 2019 (7.5%), but that jump is still disconcerting.
So hopefully this extra practice he’s putting in during the spring translates into a better training camp in the summer, and great game tape in the fall. Gardner-Johnson’s star is continuing to rise. If he sticks to the right path and keeps grinding, he could end up becoming another new face of the franchise very soon.
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