To Pick Christian Gonzalez, The New England Patriots Played The 2023 NFL Draft’s Waiting Game

Christian Gonzalez was on the board when the clock turned to the New England Patriots for the first time in the first round.

But the cornerback by way of Colorado and Oregon would have to wait longer than scheduled in the 2023 NFL draft. So would the war room inside Gillette Stadium that ultimately called his name just under half an hour later.

The Pittsburgh Steelers moved up to the No. 14 overall pick on Thursday night. Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones, the last bookend left in the initial tier of the class, loomed as the reason why.

On the other side of the trade, New England moved down three slots while acquiring an extra asset in the fourth round at No. 120 overall.

Iowa State defensive end Will McDonald IV and Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes became the next prospects to go. And to the New York Jets and Washington Commanders, respectively.

A prospect once projected atop his position still had yet to. That changed at No. 17.

“These mock drafts, they’re all well and good,” Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh told reporters during his video conference as the evening concluded. “And look, we try to gather as much information as we can from the different teams, our friends, our colleagues here across the league. I’d say overall there was probably some surprise that he lasted as long as he did.

“But, you know, we’ve got our players stacked the way we’ve got them. We can’t predict what anybody else is going to do. We try to get as good a feeling for that as possible, and then you’ve got a certain amount of players that you still feel comfortable with there in the first round to be able to go ahead and pick up that extra pick. It was a great job by Pat Stewart being in contact with different teams and Eliot Wolf working with the Steelers, moving back and still being able to pick up Christian.”

When it came to Gonzalez, the second time around marked the right time around for New England. A sense that the club picking before them had sights on different corner factored in, too, well after the Seattle Seahawks began the run at No. 5 with Devon Witherspoon out of Illinois.

“We’re trying to do our research,” said Groh. “We’re trying to stay ahead of things. Had a pretty good inclination as to who Washington was going to take, so we were able to quickly discuss which direction we wanted to go.”

From the Buffaloes to the Ducks, Gonzalez started all 30 games dating back to his freshman season. He went from an All-Pac 12 honorable mention as a sophomore to a first-team All-Pac 12 selection as a junior upon transferring to Eugene.

Notching a blocked field goal on special teams, Gonzalez’s final collegiate campaign included 50 tackles, 11 passes defended and four interceptions returned for 118 yards. Pro Football Focus charted his coverage for allowing three touchdowns, a completion rate of 60.9% and 41.25 receiving yards per game.

Just three of his tackle attempts were missed last fall while occupying the boundary and seeing time in the slot.

But it is on the outside that Gonzalez is slated to play in New England. It’s where his mold is a different one on a depth chart led by the re-signed Jonathan Jones, restructured Jalen Mills, tendered Myles Bryant and a pair of 2022 draft investments in Marcus Jones and Jack Jones.

“There was a feeling that he might still be available,” Groh said of the risk involved with trading back. “We thought he was a good player. Would have certainly understood if he wasn’t [available].”

The pre-draft visitor brings a 6-foot-1, 197-pound frame with 32-inch arms and experience both in man and zone. He also brings the athleticism to stay in stride following the press against the AFC’s upper echelon of wide receivers.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Gonzalez clocked the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds with a 10-yard split of 1.54 seconds. An 11-foot-1 broad jump and 41 1/2-inch vertical jump also set him among a select handful of secondary performers invited to Indianapolis.

Gonzalez will turn 21 years old in June. The organization that drafted him let things develop in April.

“Again, it’s nice when you’ve got a consensus on a player,” added Groh. “From the coaching staff to the scouts, we were fairly unified grade-wise on Christian, so that just sped the process along.”