Player
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
S · Texans
C.J. Gardner-Johnson: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Four teams in four years — and the production keeps showing up.
TrendCareer defensive arc by team
| Year | Team | G | Tackles | PDs | INTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | NO | 17 | 52 | 9 | 1 |
| 2020 | NO | 16 | 74 | 13 | 1 |
| 2021 | NO | 12 | 45 | 7 | 3 |
| 2022 | PHI | 12 | 61 | 8 | 6 |
| 2023 | DET | 3 | 16 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | PHI | 16 | 55 | 12 | 6 |
| 2025 | HOU/CHI | 13 | 65 | 4 | 2 |
Interceptions per season
| Season | INTs |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 3 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2025 | 2 |
The career path is a journey: NO → PHI → DET → PHI → HOU → CHI. Every uniform change came with a new role, but the ball-skills profile traveled with him. The 2022 and 2024 seasons (6 INTs each) are the peaks — and both came in his two stints in Philadelphia, where the Eagles' man-zone hybrid fit his read-and-jump style.
2025 is the messiest year on paper (HOU early, traded to CHI mid-season) yet he's already at 65 tackles in 13 games — a per-game tackle rate of 5.0, the second-highest of his career.
He's the only DB in the database to win Super Bowls with two different teams in three years.
MilestoneCJGJ won Super Bowl LVII as a member of the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles defense, then Super Bowl LIX with the 2024 Eagles after returning from a one-year Detroit detour. Two championships, both with Philadelphia, separated by a free-agent reset — a profile no other active safety can match.
The in-between Detroit year (2023) cuts the picture in half: 3 games, 16 tackles, 1 INT before injuries cratered the season. He counted on himself, went back to Philly on a one-year deal, and won another ring. The DB free-agent market has not seen a higher-leverage two-year stretch this decade.
Most productive INT season came from the slot, not the post.
SplitINTs by season + team — the Philadelphia effect
| Year | Team | INTs | PDs | INT-to-PD ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-21 | NO | 5 | 29 | 17.2% |
| 2022 | PHI | 6 | 8 | 75.0% |
| 2023 | DET | 1 | 3 | 33.3% |
| 2024 | PHI | 6 | 12 | 50.0% |
| 2025 | HOU/CHI | 2 | 4 | 50.0% |
The eye-catching number is that 2022 INT-to-PD ratio of 75% — 8 pass defenses, 6 of them resulting in interceptions. League-wide, that ratio for safeties is closer to 25%.
The pattern says he's not getting his hands on more passes than peers — he's catching the ones he gets to. His career touch-to-INT conversion is 20 INTs on 56 pass defenses, or 35.7%, which is roughly double the safety baseline (~17%).
INT-to-PD ratio by team
| Stint | INT-to-PD % |
|---|---|
| NO 2019-21 | 17 |
| PHI 2022 | 75 |
| DET 2023 | 33 |
| PHI 2024 | 50 |
| HOU/CHI 2025 | 50 |
Tied for the NFL lead in INTs in 2022 — with Minkah and Riq Woolen.
Rare2022 NFL INT leaders
| Player | INTs |
|---|---|
| Riq Woolen | 6 |
| C.J. Gardner-Johnson | 6 |
| Minkah Fitzpatrick | 6 |
His first year in Philly, he tied for the NFL lead in interceptions at 6 — alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick (a perennial All-Pro) and Riq Woolen (the rookie phenom).
What makes the rank singular: he did it in only 12 games. Fitzpatrick played 15, Woolen played 16 — CJGJ's INT-per-game rate of 0.50 was the highest among any safety with 5+ picks that season.
The pick-6 finally came in year 6 — and it was in a Philly uniform.
AnomalyIn 2024, against the Browns in Week 1, CJGJ returned an interception for a touchdown — his first career pick-6 across 5 prior seasons and 14 interceptions. The lone career return TD per the play log.
For a safety with 20 career INTs and famously aggressive route-jumping instincts, only one pick-6 is itself an oddity. Most ball-hawk safeties of his caliber (Minkah has 3 since 2019, Justin Simmons has 4) accumulate pick-6s alongside the picks. CJGJ's first one took until his sixth NFL season to arrive.
Career INT/PD efficiency rivals the elite ball-hawks — on half the volume.
ComparisonCareer INT counts — active DBs (2016-2025 reg season)
| DB | INTs | Career PDs | Conversion % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Byard | 37 | 82 | 45.1% |
| Justin Simmons | 33 | 66 | 50.0% |
| Xavien Howard | 32 | 110 | 29.1% |
| Jalen Ramsey | 29 | 122 | 23.8% |
| C.J. Gardner-Johnson | 20 | 56 | 35.7% |
His 20 career INTs trail the ball-hawk leaderboard, but his 35.7% INT-per-PD rate is third-best among DBs with 50+ career pass defenses since he entered the league.
Byard and Simmons get more total snaps and more total picks. But CJGJ's efficiency — when he gets his hands on the ball, he comes down with it — is what's kept him employed by every contender that's needed a slot/safety hybrid.
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