CB Christian Gonzalez: An Underrated And Remarkable Athlete

Christian Gonzalez is a personal favorite and a guy looking like a future star in the right scheme. Gonzalez hasn’t received much recognition so far, because he played for Oregon and didn’t have great corner production. However, you can tell by watching him he is a burner and looks apart from his teammates. Both his film and advanced analytics were impressive to view. He is a very comparable athlete to Jamel Dean and has a skillset similar to Charvarius Ward. With how good his physical traits are, it will be hard for scouts not to love him, especially when the NFL Combine rolls around.

Two all-22 games and three other regular games were evaluated, and clips from his film are broken down here. All relevant traits were graded based on his film. His scouting report also factored in stats and analytics, such as PFF grades. Use promo code TREYSCHNEIDER on Underdog Fantasy to match your deposit up to $100. Thank you to both TFG and PFF for inspiring this draft content. Please leave your feedback on Twitter, @FBIntellect.

Coverage Stats

2022:

2021:

Clip Analysis

In the clip above, Christian Gonzalez is in press man and makes a big stop on third down. He was very patient in his press and engaged with both hands, then had the length and timing to break it up.

Here, he’s in press bail and comes away with an impressive pick-six. He keeps his eyes on the QB and flips his hips at the perfect moment, then he showed off his athletic traits to return this.

In this one, he is in off-coverage playing a deep third zone. He flashes elite route recognition and accelerates in a hurry.

Grades

Overall Draft Grade: 78.6

Traits/ Skills (see bottom of the page for scale)

Each trait/attribute is graded 1-7.

Player Notes

Christian Gonzalez Bio

• Christian Gonzalez is a long and athletic corner with elite makeup speed. He fits best playing in a bump-and-run system but he also brings great versatility in zone coverage. He currently ranks 12th on the FBI 2023 Big Board.

Pros

• He’s an exceptionally fluid athlete with a really impressive change-of-direction ability for his size.
• He shows good timing and patience in press coverage.
• Is great at reading the QB’s eyes in off-coverage and closes downfield quickly.
• He showed flashes of elite zone instincts and very high field awareness.
• Gets get good depth in deep zones and quickly reacts to the eyes of the QB.
• Has an excellent press-bail technique and showed he can “ride the saddle”.
• Plays with good discipline in deep zone coverage; doesn’t give up the big plays.
• He still has tight coverage late in the game when it’s a blowout.
• Was generally rather consistent all the way through the 2022 season.
• He showed steady improvement throughout college.
• Uses his longarms to have elite ball skills.
• A very physical player in run defense and doesn’t often miss tackles.

Cons

• Is inconsistent with off-man technique and can get grabby as well; has five penalties in two years as a starter.
• Lacks bulk to his frame and doesn’t show the best play strength despite being over 200 lbs.
• Could grow to be more physical in press coverage. He could also get better at using both hands rather than one.
• He plays shallow zones too conservatively when there’s no need to.
• He lacks run instincts.

Combine

40 yd: 4.38

10 yd: 1.54

Shuttle:

3 cone:

Broad: 11’1″

Vertical: 41.5″

Bench: 14

Arm Length: 32″

Hand Size: 9 1/2″

Grading Scale

Pot=Potential: players’ highest upside

Imp=Impact: player’s immediate impact