Christian Gonzalez 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scouting report for the Oregon CB

Oregon vs. Colorado

A four-star recruit for Colorado in 2020, Gonzalez started all six games of his COVID-shortened true freshman campaign and finished second on the team with five passes broken up. The following season, he once again recorded five PBUs, along with another 5.5 tackles for loss.

He then transferred to the Oregon Ducks ahead of 2022, and the move paid off in a major way. He became a first-team All-Pac-12 performer, with four passes intercepted and seven more broken up.

Christian Gonzalez, Oregon

6-foot-1, 200 pounds; redshirt sophomore

Positives

* Has those prototype press-man corner measurements and was regularly asked to challenge the opposing team’s No. 1 receiver at the line while at Colorado

* Oregon ran a lot more cover-three, where he fell off his guy on the outside, but there were still several impressive reps in isolated coverage

* Uses a very patient approach at the release point and lands those one-handed stabs at the pec of receivers consistently, to push them towards and then guide them along the sideline, where any space to fit the pass into is taken away

* Along with that, he incorporates fake jams to keep receivers off balance trying to come off the ball

* Routinely is on top of his man down the sideline and is looking back at the quarterback, to not allows guys to detach, but also being right there in position to defend throws to the back-shoulder

* For a tall corner, Gonzalez is loose enough to swivel his hips and attack against targets breaking towards the middle of the field. He has some highly impressive reps, where he opens to the outside and gets right back into the hip pocket of receivers to cut off dig routes

* In general, you can see that he is frustrating receivers with not allowing them to get to the edges of his frame. And because he can keep his body in their way to some degree, he feels comfortable tracking the ball in the air whilst being engaged with those guys

* Had a couple of great reps against Stanford WR Michael Wilson, negating vertical releases on go routes and playing the ball in the air, as well as wrap around them on shorter breaks

* Even in zone coverage, Gonzalez doesn’t typically allow the guy across from him to stem routes in uncontested fashion

* Has the speed to run with guys down the sideline, as well as carry them down the post and stay in phase, despite having outside leverage in cover-three/-four

* Displays high football IQ in what he presents to quarterbacks, sometimes that he’s gaining ground in a quarter-turn, but then squaring his hips and contesting throws underneath, when they’re in cover-two and there’s a safety over the top

* Allowed 39 catches on 64 yards last season, with those four INTs and nine more forced incompletions (81.4 PFF coverage grade), compared to three touchdowns

* Even on a lot of those catches he allowed, he was right there in positive and tried to not get called for interference

* Will only turn 21 years old at the end of July, with room to still fine-tune his spacing due to limited experience in zone coverage

* Had an excellent all-around showing at the combine, with a 4.38 in the 40, a 41.5-inch vert (tied for second among CBs) and 11-1 broad jump (tied for fourth)

* When runs come out to the edge and he becomes the force defender, he’s pretty effective at chopping down ball-carriers at their feet

* Uses those long arms to keep receivers from getting into his frame as blockers

* Bcame a bigger hitter and more physical player altogether in 2022

* Missed only three of 53 tackling attempts last year, where his long arms to wrap up and hold onto guys is a benefit

Negatives

* Lacks a certain physicality to hold his ground and win in contested-catch situations, as well as being vulnerable to push-offs

* His success rate at raking the ball out of the hands of receivers is pretty low, once they get their finger-tips on it

* Has to be a little bit quicker to recognize crack toss plays and screens coming towards him

* Not overly interested in coming off blocks and chasing hard to get involved on tackles in the run game or when the ball goes away from him

While Gonzo may not be the type of junkyard dog Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon is, everything just comes so easy to this guy. The fluidity, the acceleration and long-speed to run with guys effortlessly, his length and vertical prowess to compete at the catch point – there’s just not much you can throw at him that really creates problems.

Now, for as much athletic confidence as he radiates and I’d feel very confident leaving him one-on-one with the X-receiver for the majority of four quarters, he doesn’t really make his presence felt physically.

He’s not a plus in run-support for what you expect from that spot. You don’t see him squeezing down route patterns as a zone defender, and there’s definitely guys who are feistier at attacking the ball. If his future coaches can get that “alpha mentality” out of him, he has legit All-Pro potential.

Grade: Top-10 overall

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