Mock Draft season has been underway for a while now, with everyone and their mother projecting where the top college football players are going to land in the 2023 NFL Draft ever since the end of the college season took place back in January.
However, now that the NFL season is behind us following the Super Bowl LVII victory by the Kansas City Chiefs, we are about to see mock draft season enter hyperdrive. No longer are there actual games to analyze and talk about. Now, one of the main storylines in the NFL is the upcoming draft in April.
So who will go where? That is a question for Oregon Duck fans that involves cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who at the moment is the only Duck to be projected to land in the first round of the draft.
ESPN’s Todd McShay put out his first mock draft of the season on Wednesday, and where he has Gonzalez going to the Pittsburgh Steelers with the No. 17 overall pick — not wildly different from other mock drafts that we’ve seen.
If the Steelers can’t retain Cameron Sutton, then Gonzalez makes a lot of sense as a replacement. He has 6-foot-2 size, good length, some serious wheels and high-end ball skills, as evidenced by four interceptions in 2022. And if Pittsburgh does re-sign Sutton or add another cornerback via free agency, Gonzalez has versatility to move around the secondary and line up over the slot.
Alternatively, the Steelers could look at offensive line reinforcements, though the top three offensive tackles are off the board in this scenario.
Gonzalez has been projected to go as high as within the top 10 according to some mock drafts, but for the most part, expectations are that he will be taken off the board somewhere between No. 15 and No. 20.
The first round of the NFL Draft will take place on April 27, so we will have to wait until then to find out the fate for this newest Pro Duck.
[mm-video type=video id=01gsatnc817cs182nyqv playlist_id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gsatnc817cs182nyqv/01gsatnc817cs182nyqv-7cc5e01098ccd7bb609ee4390c0ac79b.jpg]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]