Scouting Notes
- Massive frame for a Corner, with long arms. Gonzalez is a handful.
- Extremely sticky on deep routes.
- Hip flip is smooth as butter, and he can mirror every step with precision.
- Outstanding awareness.
- Ball skills were inconsistent. At times he made great plays on the ball. Others, he seemed to give no effort.
- Discipline is off the charts. As a tackler, he is rock-solid and doesn’t bite. At the LOS, he is patient and sudden simultaneously.
- Can stop on an absolute DIME, which is crucial for the position.
- Quarterbacks looked his way many times but were forced off by his lockdown coverage.
- Ideal for covering deep threats or big receivers.
- As the season went on, Gonzalez started trailing opponents’ WR1.
- Relies too much on his explosiveness to jump the route, allowing too much separation at times.
- Struggled immensely to stick with twitchy horizontal receivers, every route break successfully separated.
- Quick releases off the LOS pieced him up.
Short Summary
Christian Gonzalez is projected to be the first Corner taken in the NFL Draft. Physically, he is an absolute stud. With a massive frame and long arms, no receiver will be too big for him. Mentally, he is as tough as it gets. Nothing seems to rattle him, and he is a master at reading and diagnosing plays.
My only concern is that half of the job is a struggle for him. As a Corner, you have to be able to successfully cover the short horizontal routes, as well as the longer vertical routes. His issues with horizontal routes could be huge, as NFL teams could key in and target his deficiencies, mitigating the benefits of his dominance in other areas.
Christian Gonzalez has every trait you could want in a Corner, and his potential is sky-high as a result. He could legitimately develop into one of the best Corners in the game. If he can manage to clean up his horizontal coverage, he has a good chance of getting there.
Scouting Card Key
- Age refers to the age of the player come draft night, rounded to the nearest half-age.
- Percentage numbers in the Player Info and Combine Stats sections – This refers to the percentile that number belongs to among all players at his position, going back nearly a decade.
- CVRGrade – PFF Coverage Grade.
- Tgt/Snap – The percentage of a players snaps in which he was targeted.
- QBRA – QB Rating Against.
- Snaps/PEN – Snaps per Penalty. In other words, how many snaps does he play before getting his next penalty. The higher the number, the better.
- TDA – Touchdowns Allowed.
- RecYdsA/Tgt – Receiving Yards Allowed per Target.
Credit
Advanced stats – pff.com
Scouting card template / idea – Jordan Pun @Texans_Thoughts
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