The cornerback position has become increasingly more important in the NFL as offenses move to being more pass heavy. When looking at the cornerbacks in the AFC East, there is two players that stand out as the best in the division while one team has some serious questions at the position.
The New England Patriots have had good cornerbacks over the years like Stephon Gilmore and recently J.C. Jackson. However, both are now gone in a short period of time after they traded Gilmore during the season and Jackson left in free agency. While they have added some players at the position, they haven’t been at the caliber of Gilmore or Jackson, and none on the roster rank in the Top 5 within the division.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins each have two players make these rankings with the New York Jets sneaking in with a player they just drafted.
Ranking the 5 best cornerbacks in the AFC East entering 2022
Starting these rankings is one of the newest cornerbacks in the AFC East with Ahman ‘Sauce’ Gardner, who was drafted fourth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. The Jets at one time had one of the best cornerbacks ever in Darrell Revis and they are hoping that Gardner can have a similar impact on this defense.
Sauce Gardner was an elite cornerback at the University of Cincinnati and after starting 33 games he did not surrender a single touchdown. And in the biggest games had some of his best games like against Alabama last year when he allowed only 14 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.
The AFC East has some excellent cornerbacks and in a few seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gardner considered the best of the group.