Patriots
With each passing game, it seems increasingly like a bargain that the Patriots were in a position to select Christian Gonzalez with the No. 17 pick within the 2023 NFL Draft.
Gonzalez was the third cornerback drafted after a somewhat unexpected slide to the center of the round, where New England happily chosen him and made him the team's No. 1 cornerback, going after opposing No. 1 wide receivers every week clung.
Speaking with Patriots author Evan Lazar, Gonzalez explained why he feels he fell into the primary round later than originally expected.
“The shock for me was that I don’t talk much and people thought I wasn’t competitive,” Gonzalez said. “I came into the league and showed what I can do. I guess that's because cornerbacks are usually a lot more talkative and talk a lot more nonsense. It's just not my game. So they thought I wasn’t competitive.”
Gonzalez developed a popularity for not talking much or in any respect, even after making big plays for the Patriots. Instead, he lets his piece do the talking, and that gets numerous people talking.
New England coach Jerod Mayo praised Gonzalez after the Patriots' loss to the Cardinals, by which the second-year cornerback turned in one other lockdown performance, keeping rookie wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. in check throughout Sunday's game.
“He is our best defensive player and he has proven that [vs. the Cardinals]Mayo said. “Just a guy that goes out and competes over and over again, and he’s done a good job.”
Gonzalez has also been successful in stopping a number of the NFL's top receivers akin to Tyreek Hill and Ja'Marr Chase. Next-Gen Statistics Revealed Gonzalez is the one defender within the NFL to focus on 10 or more deep balls for only one reception.
The 22-year-old makes a robust case for his first profession Pro Bowl nomination and expresses his ambitions to develop into an All-Pro within the near future.
“All-Pro is definitely a better award than the Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl is all a bonus,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, if it comes, it comes. Cool. But yeah, I’m definitely aiming more for All-Pro.”
Gonzalez is among the many Patriots' youngest players but is already a pillar that New England wants to construct on to flee the trenches of mediocrity and re-emerge as a playoff threat within the NFL.
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