Christian Gonzales CB Oregon: Scouting Report

Height: 6’2

Weight: 201

Overall

Christian Gonzales is a long, athletic corner in Oregon’s zone heavy defense. He began his college career at the University of Colorado where he spent 2 seasons playing in 18 games, starting all of them. This past season at Oregon, he played in 12 games, again starting all of them before opting out of the Holiday Bowl to prepare for the Draft. He is an excellent athlete and has the experience and coverage technique to be an immediate impact player at the next level.

Pass Game

Gonzales played primarily on the outside on film but he is athletic enough to play in the slot if needed. In his press man technique, he shows very good footwork to mirror his man and does a very good job of squeezing his man to the sideline down the field. When the ball is in the air he gets his head around to locate it and uses his long arms and ball skills to break up passes and create takeaways. While he has very good ball skills, he needs to be more physical when the ball gets in the receivers hands. In zone coverage he quickly gets to his spot and uses his vision to read the offense before making quick breaks on the ball. He played a lot of deep cover 3 coverage on film which allowed him to use his excellent speed to get depth and cover a lot of ground when the ball was in the air. His fluidity and overall technique in coverage is refined and he has the size and speed to match up with the best receivers on the outside.

Run Game

In the run game, Gonzales will create some big plays on film but he needs to improve his physicality in the NFL. He needs to be more consistent in wrapping up and finishing his tackles rather than just throwing his body at the ball carrier hoping to trip them up. He shows a lot of struggles in getting off blocks down the field which will make him a liability in run defense at the next level if he does not improve. At times he looks uninterested in making tackles and the lack of physicality is a big concern going into the pros.

Last Word

Gonzales projects best as an outside corner in a zone heavy defense where he can use his speed and length to cover a lot of space and make plays on the ball down the field. His inability to get off blocks and lack of physicality against the run is a concern but his excellent coverage technique and ball skills will allow him to be an immediate impact corner in the NFL. His excellent blend of size, speed, and athleticism will allow him to excel on special teams early in his career as well.

One-Liner: Christian Gonzales is a long, dynamic boundary corner who will excel against the pass, but his lack of run support may create problems at the next level.

Grade: 7.0 (High End 3 Down Starter)

Games Watched: 2022 - BYU, UCLA, Georgia

Team Fits: Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots