C.J. Gardner-Johnson was an Elite Safety in the Second Half season for the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. But the Eagles made the shocking move in March to move on from CJGJ in March, in a shocker of a trade to the Houston Texans. The Texans’ secondary just got a lot more lethal with the addition of Gardner-Johnson, and I would expect Gardner-Johnson’s numbers to still be among the top safeties in this DeMeco Ryans system for Fantasy in 2025 in IDP formats. So with all of the preliminary talk out of the way, let’s dive right into CJGJ’s 2025 IDP Outlook.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson 2024 Production
In 2024, Gardner-Johnson had a bounce-back season from his 2023 season with the Lions, as he had a strong 2024 for the eventual Super Bowl Champion Eagles. Fantasy Data calculated the following stats for CJGJ: 59 total tackles, two TFLs, 12 passes defended, six interceptions, a forced fumble, and that amazing Pick-6 against Cooper Rush and the Cowboys in Week 17, for a total of 88.0 fantasy points.
Although he had a slow start, things started to pick up for him when the defensive side of the ball made the change to start Cooper Dejean after the bye week, as the secondary’s coverage became that LOCKDOWN DEFENSE! As an Eagles fan, it was a beautiful thing to see from Week 6 on what that defense was doing week-to-week, and Gardner-Johnson was a big part of that. Now, in DeMeco Ryans’ defense, that is another ball-hawking defense, his fantasy value should still be high. Here’s his projections.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson 2025 Projections
Fantasy Pros has Gardner-Johnson finishing the 2025 season with 155.2 fantasy points with 10 passes defended, 2.6 interceptions, 0.2 defensive touchdowns, 68.6 total tackles, and 0.5 fumble recoveries. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Mike Clay has CJGJ as his 53rd-ranked safety with a 126 fantasy points projection with the following statline projection: 69 total tackles, three TFLs, 0.1 sacks, 2.6 interceptions, and 0.8 forced fumbles.
Clay is lower on Gardner-Johnson’s fantasy value than I expected because his ability to be a Ball Hawk is going to help this Texans defense out a whole lot in 2025. Even though Eagles fans are dealing with his antics off the field with some of his comments, Eagles fans will admit that his impact on a defense is at an Elite Level, and I think he is going to outshine the interception projection once again and have at least five interceptions in 2025 for the Texans.
Final Thoughts
As Gardner-Johnson said on Instagram Live over the Weekend, “I’m glad, I’m in Texas.” Houston is going to love CJGJ’s Ball-Hawking Ability a ton this upcoming season, and I feel that he’s going to exceed his fantasy expectations in 2025 IDP formats. The Texans’ defense as a whole is a sleeper pick in redraft formats as well, and the acquisition of Gardner-Johnson is a big part of the reason why. CJGJ will be an Elite deep-level play this season in IDP Watch! Total Apex Fantasy and Bets will have more NFL fantasy advice throughout the year, including IDP, DFS, and Redraft formats. Can’t wait for Football Season.
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