Jets could find unexpected silver lining in Sauce Gardner injury

One man's misfortune is another's opportunity. Sauce Gardner was just one of many New York Jets to leave Sunday's match up to succumb to injury. The winless Jets were already without many top names on a deficient roster, and the latest wave makes the future look pretty bleak. Unless you're Azareye'h Thomas.

While most fans would have preferred for Thomas, the promising 21-year-old rookie out of Florida State, to replace Brandon Stephens in the lineup, it might be Gardner's concussion that gives him his big break.

Azareye'h Thomas could prove he deserves a starting job with the Jets in light of Sauce Gardner's injury

When the Jets selected Thomas in the third round of the draft last April, they were getting nearly everything they wanted. Thomas was highly productive in college, comes with ideal size and length for the position, and aside from straight line long speed, has tremendous physical gifts.

There was hope that perhaps at some point, he could wrestle away the starting outside corner job opposite Gardner away from Stephens. Instead, going into action on Sunday, the promising youngster had only logged 15 snaps. It seemed as if the coaching staff was hell-bent on seeing it through with Darren Mougey's high-priced headscratcher.

With Gardner leaving due to a concussion, Thomas finally got a chance to get some extended run. The results were mostly positive. The lone blemish was a 33-yard strike from Andy Dalton to Xavier Leggette that allowed Carolina to seal the victory.

Otherwise, Thomas allowed just one other catch for eight yards. He was targeted four times in total and also recorded a pass breakup over his 27 snaps. The effort earned the youngster an overall PFF grade of 75.9. His coverage grade of 72.9 was 17th among all corners in Week 7.

Thomas likely gets the start in Week 8 as the Jets head to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. A strong performance there might get him in the conversations for more playing time down the stretch. Gardner, himself, has struggled this season, and as New York spirals toward securing the first overall pick in next year's draft, it makes sense to give the young guys some run.

More than likely, if Thomas is to earn additional snaps, it will come at Stephens' expense. At this point, it makes no sense to keep running out middling veterans when there are promising young players whose development will benefit more from what are essentially meaningless snaps otherwise.

That's the point of the year that were at now with this club. October hasn't even ended and we're already in pack it in and start planning for 2026 mode. At least a talented rookie like Thomas can give Jets fans something to look forward to in the slog that lies ahead.