Jets rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner and receiver Garrett Wilson made their team and city proud during NFL Honors on Thursday night by taking home the 2023 Defensive and Lffensive Rookie of the Year awards.
With the wins, Gardner and Wilson—the fourth and 10th picks in last year’s draft—joined an exclusive group of award winners as just the third set of teammates to sweep rookie DPOY and OPOY. The last duo to accomplish the feat were Saints running back Alvin Kamara and cornerback Marshon Lattimore in 2018, with the other instance taking place in 1967 with wins by Lions CB Lem Barney and RB Mel Farr.
This year’s winners were selected using a new format that allowed voters to select a first, second and third place winner (5-3-1 basis). Wilson received 156 total votes (18-19-9), with second place going to Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker with 129 votes, even though he earned more first place votes (19-8-10). Meanwhile, Gardner won in a landslide with 242 votes (46-4-0), with Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson finishing second at 129 votes (3-35-9).
Appearing in all 17 of the Jets games, Gardner and Wilson emerged as two of the best talents in their class and will now wrap up their first NFL seasons with the hardware to prove it.
Gardner led the NFL with 20 passes defensed, while adding 75 tackles and two interceptions. Not to mention, his presence covering many of the opponent’s best perimeter receivers helped propel the Jets to one of the NFL’s best defenses.
As for Wilson, the wideout led all rookies with 83 receptions and 1,103 receiving yards this season to go with four touchdowns, despite playing with three quarterbacks over the course of the season.
