Christian Gonzalez - CB - Oregon

The smoothest CB in college football

Christian Gonzalez has been rising in mocks since the combine, and for good reason.

It is simply good business to draft 6’1 corners with smooth hips, and Gonzalez is as fluid as they come. Gonzalez crushed the athletic testing, and should be able to match up with all types of NFL receivers on the outside or in the slot.

Gonzalez’s speed lets him be more patient at the line of scrimmage, and he’s adept at mirroring the footwork of the receivers he lines up against.

Theo Ash @16GSSclips

Here, Gonzalez hops backwards, staying balanced with his feet remaining parallel and his nose over his bent knees. Once the route declares, Gonzalez is able to drive off of that inside foot, open his hips and stay in front of the WR.

He’s got great coverage, but the QB makes this throw anyway. Gonzalez reads the eyes of the receiver and breaks up the pass.

Gonzalez has easy long speed. When he plays patient and balanced, he’s nearly impossible to beat over the top. He’s got a lot of explosiveness driving off one foot after flipping his hips, and stays in front of his man.

Theo Ash @16GSSclips

Corner is about your body being in the right place. On these vertical shots, Gonzalez can cut off the path of the WR.

Gonzalez can also suffocate a breaking route down the field.

Theo Ash @TheoAshNFL

So so fluid

Here he immediately opens his hips towards the sideline to deal with the WRs release, but the WR ends up crossing his face and breaking inside. No problem. Gonzalez is easily able to spin around and gives up zero breathing room.

Theo Ash @TheoAshNFL

Christian Gonzalez turns the wrong direction but is still able to blanket the WR because his hips are 🧈

At the 10 yard mark, where routes usually declare, subtle movements by the WR lead Gonzalez to believe that the receiver is heading upfield. He jumps towards the sideline, trying to stay on that upfield hip, but the WR breaks inside. Despite getting fooled, the receiver never creates more than a yard of separation on Gonzalez, who is still able to get his hips turned and stay in the hip pocket.

There are some moments where he misses a punch in press or tries to cut off a path that the WR isn’t taking. He has fine, not elite, instincts.

As time goes on in the NFL, he’ll eliminate mental errors, and you’ll be left with just the crazy athlete.

In zone, Gonzalez has the click and close ability to drive and clean up anything in front of him, and he has flashed good patience and knowledge of route concepts.

BOLTS Draft Talk @BoltsDraftTalk

This is Christian Gonzalez' first game at Oregon. Look at how smooth the zone pass off is, zero flinch, hesitation or bite.

Gonzalez could stand to add some play strength. There are times where he gets knocked way off course when receivers throw a shoulder into him, which might be OPI, but that never gets called.

He’s a decent tackler but not really punishing like Witherspoon is, and maybe his biggest issues is his success rate in 50/50 situations.

Theo Ash @TheoAshNFL

Gonzalez can be a hair late to get his eyes on the ball and he doesn’t have the elite strength to dominate at the catch point.

Gonzalez doesn’t have the gaudy statistics some of the past top 10 CBs have boasted. PFF charted Gonzalez with 3 TDs allowed last season, and 495 yards allowed on 64 targets. Plus 4 INTs and 6 PBUs.

Not bad numbers, but not nearly as impressive as say, Sauce Gardner, who didn’t allow a TD his entire college career. Or Pat Surtain II, who only allowed 273 yards in 555 coverage snaps his last year at Bama.

Per PFFs numbers, no CB drafted in the top 10 over the last five years allowed as many yards as Gonzalez in their last year of college, and the only CB drafted in the top 10 during that stretch to allow more than 1 yard per coverage snap was CJ Henderson, who is probably the biggest bust of the group. So as athletic as Gonzalez is, he’s not a dominant player quite yet

Overall, Gonzalez is extremely sticky, but doesn’t have fantastic ball skills and isn’t immune to occasional lapses in technique down the field. He has a good but not great feel for the CB position, but he has the athleticism to recover from early mistakes. I expect him to be a top player at the CB position by the time his rookie contract is up.

Grade: 6.8 - High End Starter - Early 1st Round

Where I’d like to see him:

Las Vegas Raiders: Patrick Graham is an aggressive defensive coordinator who isn’t afraid to line up and play some man coverage. You can’t have any holes if you want to play like that. Without another good CB, Las Vegas doesn’t have much hope of being too successful. Gonzalez and Nate Hobbs, plus potential breakout candidate Tyler Hall in the slot, would actually move me.

Atlanta Falcons: It feels like I haven’t seen the Falcons with a good secondary since I was a small child. But with AJ Terrell emerging as a top talent, and the addition of Jesse Bates this offseason, it seems like Atlanta might be close to actually having an average defensive backfield. The Falcons didn’t draft a single DB last year, and let Isaiah Oliver walk in free agency. It’s time to address that position again

Green Bay Packers: Rasul Douglas has elite ball skills and recognition, but doesn’t always have the foot speed to match up with quick WRs. A move to safety has been rumored for a while, and with Adrian Amos leaving, the Packers need to address that position. Snagging Gonzalez in the draft and moving Douglas to safety could be the best version of the Packers secondary next season.