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CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ
If Christian Gonzalez played a more valuable position, there'd be a strong argument for taking him first overall.
Sometimes draft prospects are a difficult watch. And sometimes, you stumble upon prospects whose tape you could watch all day.
Since defensive back play is generally poor and it's very rare to have someone who is exceptional in a position where losing matchups is made inevitable by the design of the sport, you don't forget the likes of Derwin James when you watch them in college.
Christian Gonzalez is on that level. Let's start with the subtle, blink-and-you-miss-it plays. Gonzalez is at the top of the screen here. He starts the play facing the quarterback in off coverage.
He switches to face the outside wide receiver when the play begins. If the quarterback looks his way, he sees hints of off-man coverage. But Gonzalez isn't playing man on the outside receiver, so he switches back and lets the outside receiver pass him upfield.
He's slowed the receiver and he would have slowed the quarterback if he had looked in his direction.
Now the second receiver is running through Gonzalez's zone and is his responsibility. But how Gonzalez executes here is phenomenal. It's subtle. But it's phenomenal nonetheless. He takes away the outside release with his body shape first and then accelerates upfield so that he can get on top of the receiver's route when he tries to advance past him.
The defender has a right to his space. He didn't initiate contact or push the receiver out of the way. He beat him to his spot and consumed the route so that the receiver not only can't get open, he can't even run his route.
Fortunately for the quarterback, he was looking the other way in the first place.
Here's another generally unremarkable play. Gonzalez is the cornerback at the top of the screen again. He is drawn to the flat because the flat receiver has a step on the linebacker to his inside.
Gonzalez takes that route away long enough for the linebacker to recover and then the cornerback peels back with great speed and control to cover the tight end going to the back pylon.
What's brilliant here is the speed and timing, but it's also his technique. When he turns back to cover the tight end, he turns his head fully around so that he's looking back for the ball at all times possible.
There's only a split second where his head is turned.
So often you see cornerbacks execute this play and simply run into the tight end or never look back for the ball. When Stetson Bennett throws his touchdown to the opposite side of the field, you can see Gonzalez still trailing his receiver in man coverage at the top of the screen.
Unlike Devon Witherspoon, Gonzalez has elite mirroring skills. His feet are lightning quick and he can match the movement of receivers in press alignments with great technique.
Here he sticks with the bigger receiver who tries to jab step inside to open a window past him outside. Gonzalez squeezes him to the sideline, then engages his inside hand while looking back for the ball.
There's no window for the quarterback to hit here.
Against UCLA, we can see a route that extends further down the sideline. This time the receiver doesn't jab step, he sprints out of his release and gets to the outside in an instant.
Gonzalez was setting up to try and jam the receiver, you can see his inside hand come forward and his inside foot come forward at the snap. This gives the receiver a chance to elude him, but the cornerback simply transitions into a trail position and squeezes the route over the sideline once again.
This is a play that requires speed from the defender but it's also about wasted motion and reaction time.
Whether you run a 4.3, 4.4 or 4.5 isn't massively important here. Being an effective man cover cornerback is as much about technique and balance as it is about speed. Gonzalez has them all in abundance.
Georgia are going to complete this slant route against him, but it's still a great play from the cornerback as he mirrors the release and stays on the upfield shoulder throughout the play.
The quarterback does a great job to throw to his receiver's backshoulder, the only spot where Gonzalez can't reach the ball.
If you force a receiver and quarterback to go backshoulder on a slant, you've definitely done your job. Gonzalez is at home in all different kinds of coverage assignments.
Whether it's press-man, off-man, zone or playing in different spots on the field, coverage just comes naturally to him.
Gonzalez's acumen matches his athleticism. He diagnoses routes instantly so that he can be aggressive without risking giving up big plays or opportunities to receivers in space.
This in-breaking route against his off-man coverage highlights how rapid his process is. He doesn't get in front of the receiver and he doesn't actually knock the ball away either.
But there was never a risk of him being beaten further downfield and he was able to impact the catch point with his upper body enough to cause the incompletion.
He's not going to touch the ball on this play either. Gonzalez is at the top of the screen. He's square to the receiver initially but steps back and outside when the ball is snapped into an underneath zone. His eyes are on the quarterback throughout the play.
Gonzalez understands where the receivers are and the timing of the routes. So he knows he can evacuate his zone, reading the quarterback's eyes and put himself in position to fill the passing lane.
He's very unlucky not to get an interception here as the quarterback seemingly benefited from accidentally overthrowing the ball to his intended target.
While he doesn't have the big hit highlight reel that Devon Witherspoon has, Gonzalez is a willing tackler who stands out for his ability to diagnose running plays and find angles to the ball faster than those around him.
That's likely more valuable than a cornerback prospect who can land big hits. Because cornerbacks don't really make big hits against NFL athletes. They're not big enough and they get flagged if they do it in space.
This play is a reflection of Gonzalez's quality beating blockers and making tackles.
He should be sealed off here at the top of the screen but he lets the blocker establish inside so he can easily detach and meet the quarterback outside before he reaches the endzone.
You never get the full picture of cornerbacks when it comes to broadcast tape, but from everything you see in Christian Gonzalez he looks like an elite cornerback.
If Christian Gonzalez played a more valuable position, there'd be a strong argument for taking him first overall.
Sometimes draft prospects are a difficult watch. And sometimes, you stumble upon prospects whose tape you could watch all day.
Since defensive back play is generally poor and it's very rare to have someone who is exceptional in a position where losing matchups is made inevitable by the design of the sport, you don't forget the likes of Derwin James when you watch them in college.
Christian Gonzalez is on that level. Let's start with the subtle, blink-and-you-miss-it plays. Gonzalez is at the top of the screen here. He starts the play facing the quarterback in off coverage.
He switches to face the outside wide receiver when the play begins. If the quarterback looks his way, he sees hints of off-man coverage. But Gonzalez isn't playing man on the outside receiver, so he switches back and lets the outside receiver pass him upfield.
He's slowed the receiver and he would have slowed the quarterback if he had looked in his direction.
Now the second receiver is running through Gonzalez's zone and is his responsibility. But how Gonzalez executes here is phenomenal. It's subtle. But it's phenomenal nonetheless. He takes away the outside release with his body shape first and then accelerates upfield so that he can get on top of the receiver's route when he tries to advance past him.
The defender has a right to his space. He didn't initiate contact or push the receiver out of the way. He beat him to his spot and consumed the route so that the receiver not only can't get open, he can't even run his route.
Fortunately for the quarterback, he was looking the other way in the first place.
Here's another generally unremarkable play. Gonzalez is the cornerback at the top of the screen again. He is drawn to the flat because the flat receiver has a step on the linebacker to his inside.
Gonzalez takes that route away long enough for the linebacker to recover and then the cornerback peels back with great speed and control to cover the tight end going to the back pylon.
What's brilliant here is the speed and timing, but it's also his technique. When he turns back to cover the tight end, he turns his head fully around so that he's looking back for the ball at all times possible.
There's only a split second where his head is turned.
So often you see cornerbacks execute this play and simply run into the tight end or never look back for the ball. When Stetson Bennett throws his touchdown to the opposite side of the field, you can see Gonzalez still trailing his receiver in man coverage at the top of the screen.
Unlike Devon Witherspoon, Gonzalez has elite mirroring skills. His feet are lightning quick and he can match the movement of receivers in press alignments with great technique.
Here he sticks with the bigger receiver who tries to jab step inside to open a window past him outside. Gonzalez squeezes him to the sideline, then engages his inside hand while looking back for the ball.
There's no window for the quarterback to hit here.
Against UCLA, we can see a route that extends further down the sideline. This time the receiver doesn't jab step, he sprints out of his release and gets to the outside in an instant.
Gonzalez was setting up to try and jam the receiver, you can see his inside hand come forward and his inside foot come forward at the snap. This gives the receiver a chance to elude him, but the cornerback simply transitions into a trail position and squeezes the route over the sideline once again.
This is a play that requires speed from the defender but it's also about wasted motion and reaction time.
Whether you run a 4.3, 4.4 or 4.5 isn't massively important here. Being an effective man cover cornerback is as much about technique and balance as it is about speed. Gonzalez has them all in abundance.
Georgia are going to complete this slant route against him, but it's still a great play from the cornerback as he mirrors the release and stays on the upfield shoulder throughout the play.
The quarterback does a great job to throw to his receiver's backshoulder, the only spot where Gonzalez can't reach the ball.
If you force a receiver and quarterback to go backshoulder on a slant, you've definitely done your job. Gonzalez is at home in all different kinds of coverage assignments.
Whether it's press-man, off-man, zone or playing in different spots on the field, coverage just comes naturally to him.
Gonzalez's acumen matches his athleticism. He diagnoses routes instantly so that he can be aggressive without risking giving up big plays or opportunities to receivers in space.
This in-breaking route against his off-man coverage highlights how rapid his process is. He doesn't get in front of the receiver and he doesn't actually knock the ball away either.
But there was never a risk of him being beaten further downfield and he was able to impact the catch point with his upper body enough to cause the incompletion.
He's not going to touch the ball on this play either. Gonzalez is at the top of the screen. He's square to the receiver initially but steps back and outside when the ball is snapped into an underneath zone. His eyes are on the quarterback throughout the play.
Gonzalez understands where the receivers are and the timing of the routes. So he knows he can evacuate his zone, reading the quarterback's eyes and put himself in position to fill the passing lane.
He's very unlucky not to get an interception here as the quarterback seemingly benefited from accidentally overthrowing the ball to his intended target.
While he doesn't have the big hit highlight reel that Devon Witherspoon has, Gonzalez is a willing tackler who stands out for his ability to diagnose running plays and find angles to the ball faster than those around him.
That's likely more valuable than a cornerback prospect who can land big hits. Because cornerbacks don't really make big hits against NFL athletes. They're not big enough and they get flagged if they do it in space.
This play is a reflection of Gonzalez's quality beating blockers and making tackles.
He should be sealed off here at the top of the screen but he lets the blocker establish inside so he can easily detach and meet the quarterback outside before he reaches the endzone.
You never get the full picture of cornerbacks when it comes to broadcast tape, but from everything you see in Christian Gonzalez he looks like an elite cornerback.
