Fresh Patriots’ cornerback Christian Gonzalez may have been the steal of the draft, and the missing link to finish out the Patriots high-octane defense
On Thursday when New England shocked the NFL world by taking possibly one of the biggest bargains of the draft, there were whispers. Did Bill Belicheck commit highway robbery in Kansas City? Long regarded as the team allergic to spending valuable first round draft picks on cornerbacks, the Patriots surprised the draft by taking Christian Gonzalez out of Oregon.
Gonzalez, along with fellow cornerback Joey Porter Jr. out of Penn State rose quickly amongst draft boards after a solid combine and impressive production at their respective schools. Gonzalez however was seen as a once in a blue moon talent, paired with speed, fundamentals, and an attitude fit for a corner.
Arguably one of the better physical talents in this years NFL Draft, any fan knows that defensive back is one of the sports’ toughest positions. Gonzalez is truly a freak athlete. Running a 4.38 at the NFL combine, that allows him to keep up with 99% of NFL receivers at a high level. In recent years, the Patriots have had some studs at the position, including Stephon Gilmore, Darelle Revis, and in the past year alone cornerback Jack Jones cemented his place by being a great all-around player and beginning to emerge as a rising star.
Gonzalez’s talent on paper trumps nearly all of those players– earning the title of generational player, high praise for someone who hasn’t even played a snap yet.
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“A couple of [interceptions] against Colorado, one against Oregon State. Some impressive plays,” Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh said after Round 1. “You saw his ability to catch the ball at the combine. So feel pretty good about Christian and being able to bring him in.”
The real question is how in the world did he fall to the Patriots. On most big draft boards, he was a surefire top 10 pick, yet New England was able to scoop him up at 17 after trading down, an even more head-scratching stat.
Either way, Gonzalez will now join a long lineage of productive cornerbacks with the New England Patriots, namely ones that Bill Belichick went out and hand-picked himself. As forementioned, the Patriots have never been keen on drafting big time cornerbacks in the draft, but Gonzalez’s talent was simply too good to pass up.
The pick also brings into question the evolving game of the NFL as a whole. One of Christian Gonzalez’s biggest hash marks during his time at Oregon was his reluctance and his lack of ability to make tackles. However, as the tape shows— he improved, learned from his mistakes throughout games giving teams confident in his ability to grow and fix his misgivings.
That hasn’t swayed skeptics however, “”No one’s going to go from not tackling, if that’s what we’re talking about, to tackling in the NFL,” former Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. “That’s not happening. But I’ll say this: For that position, if you can stand in front of a guy, mirror him and shut a guy down and play at a high level, I need you to tackle when we get into the playoffs. When we get into the playoffs, I need whatever you got in the tank.”
As the NFL moves further and further into a passing era, Belichick might’ve decided it was time to accept the fact that tackling corners may be a rare commodity these days. Teams are running less and passing more, the running back market has gone down way past its peak, and Belichick might’ve determined the opportunity cost was too much to pass up. Corners are being required to tackle, instead teams are wanting players who can keep up with the speedsters of the league and not have to be bogged down by working on tackling dummies every day at practice.
Gonzalez will likely take his role across the field from second-year corner Jack Jones out of Arizona State. Jones became an integral part of the Patriots defense in 2022, recording two interceptions– one a pick-six of Aaron Rodgers. These two have shown high promise going into 2023 and will try to be a reincarnation of what the Patriots had years before, with a secondary that struck fear into offenses’ hearts.
In an analytics based league, there’s something called the Relative Athlete Score, or RAS for short. The metric compares players measurables– 40-yard dash, broad jump, vertical leap, etc. with others in the past, giving the user a comparable to use with their respective athletes. Christian Gonzalez had a 9.95. His 41.5-inch vertical and 133-inch broad jump placed him in the 96th and 95th percentile, respectively, at his position for those tests.
Gonzalez also fits in nicely with a revamped, younger team than what the Patriots were only a few years ago. After the departure of Tom Brady, the Patriots began a quick turnaround– something that no one can call a rebuild due to how quick it was, investing in younger players, particularly on the defense.
He might not be Belichick-esque, but is great enough to get himself a role on the Patriots. It’s a testament to the changing demands at cornerback, one that Gonzalez embodies himself. Long gone are the days of big-body Richard Sherman and Joe Haden– now enter in the new version of cornerbacks. Smoother, lankier, and more execution focused instead of physicality, and Gonzalez will slide in just perfect in Foxboro.
