Not every team has the luxury of two shutdown cornerbacks like the Indianapolis Colts do in Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward Sr., but they have to remain healthy.
INDIANAPOLIS — It hasn't taken long to see how critical the cornerback position is to Indianapolis Colts coordinator Lou Anarumo's defense since he was hired in 2025.
It's arguably the position group they have spent the most resources on addressing, albeit much of that has been due to injury. Still, the team has spent precious draft picks and salary cap space over the last 12-plus months ensuring that they can deploy the type of coverage that makes Anarumo's defense as effective as possible.
It's led the Colts to a starting tandem of Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward Sr. at outside cornerback, who have three All-Pro selections and three Pro Bowl appearances between them.
"On paper, we can be one of the best in the game," Ward said this offseason about teaming up with Gardner. "But honestly, we've got to go out there and put in work and get some good continuity together, 'cause shoot, I think last year, me and Sauce only played one game together, like there's not a lot of time together. So, obviously, he can learn a lot from me. I can learn a lot from him."
The Colts signed Ward to a three-year, $54 million contract last March, and they traded two first-round draft picks for Gardner at the trade deadline in November. However, the tandem the Colts thought they were forming hardly came together in 2025.
Ward missed 10 games while dealing with concussions, and Gardner only played in two full games and two other partials due to a calf injury after being traded to the Colts.
Together, Ward and Gardner only played in one full game, but they were mightily impressive against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes was apprehensive about testing either player on the boundaries for much of the game, but Anarumo knows it won't be that way all season in 2026.
"I think teams are going to try everybody these days," Anarumo said, referring to offenses testing Ward and Gardner. "Everybody has great wideouts, and they feel like they can position or route formation them to get what they want. But just on our side, we feel like we have a huge advantage, obviously, when we have those two guys out on the field. So, we're looking forward to it."
Now healthy and fully ingrained as a member of the Colts, Gardner welcomes the challenge of being tested by opposing quarterbacks.
"I hope they think that they should go at me," Gardner said. "That's what I would like them to think, so I can get more targets and be able to have more ball production, change the game more.
"As a corner, we want those accolades. We want those statistics. We want picks. We want PBUs. We want all of those things," Gardner continued. "I used to think that way (not being thrown at) like my first couple years in the league, but it's like, I want more now, you know? I want to make plays on the ball, a lot more plays."
While both players' time with the Colts in 2025 was defined by injury, the metrics showed they were effective on the field. For example, Pro Football Focus listed Ward and Gardner as the Nos. 8 and 9 cornerbacks in the NFL, respectively, both excelling in coverage and doing their part in run defense.
The Colts hope that having Ward and Gardner on the outside, with Justin Walley in the slot, and Cam Bynum and A.J. Haulcy at safety, forms one of the most smothering, opportunistic secondaries in the NFL.
