So much of the Patriots' offseason has been focused almost-exclusively on the offense. Whether it's wondering how big of a step Drake Maye will take this season, what Mike Vrabel's plan for a modern scheme looks like, or how much gas Stefon Diggs still has left in the tank, basically every listicle and think piece about the Patriots over the past six months has been on that side of the ball.
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It almost – almost – made us forget that the Patriots' defense figures to be pretty good this year. I don't want to say elite, but actually, that's exactly what I want to say: it almost made us forget that the Patriots' defense figures to be elite this year. Feels good, doesn't it? The latest example comes from ESPN, who continued their position-by-position NFL preview this week with a big listicle on cornerbacks.
Apparently making up for the Drake Maye Top 10 QB snub (this is a Patriots' blog, what did you expect?), ESPN's group of anonymous execs, coaches, and scouts had a bunch of good things to say about Christian Gonzalez.
The NFL's finally starting to notice what Christian Gonzalez is doing with the Patriots
"Gonzalez caught the league's full attention as an honorable mention last year despite missing 13 games with a shoulder injury in 2023. He reached top-10 status after his second-year performance, as expected, allowing 46 of 86 targets to be completed as the nearest defender in coverage. That 53.5% completion percentage was the third-lowest among 33 players with at least 75 targets coming their way.
"I think Gonzo is the next great one," a veteran NFL assistant said. "Skills, patience, length. He's the closest thing to Pat [Surtain II]. Smooth, big athlete, travels a lot, can matchup against the best guy." Gonzalez isn't known as a big thumper, though most corners aren't. Physicality is an area where he could improve. "He'll tackle, but I wouldn't call him physical," an NFL coordinator said. "But he's got the size and coverage skills to put him on the outside and he can handle himself, and he can also come up and play run support and play within the construct of the defense."
I'm not sure landing on the honorable mention list qualifies for 'catching the league's full attention,' but that's probably just me being too pedantic. Gonzalez has been one of the best corners – when he's on the field, at least – since the moment he entered the league, and it's hard to contain your excitement when his closest comp is the player who literally finished #1 on this list.
Get ready for a lot 17-14 games in New England this year. Ol' fashioned football is back!