Tag: Christian Gonzalez

First look at top draft pick Christian Gonzalez in Patriots gear

Get your first look at rookie first-round draft pick Christian Gonzalez on the Patriots’ practice field.

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The New England Patriots opened their rookie minicamp over the weekend, and pictures are beginning to emerge of first-round draft pick Christian Gonzalez on the field in Patriots gear for the first time.

Many had Gonzalez as the top cornerback in the entire 2023 NFL draft. Yet, he still somehow fell to the Patriots at No. 17 overall, after the team traded down from No. 14 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Not only did they get a future franchise player for their defensive backfield, but they also came away with an extra fourth-round pick in the deal.

Gonzalez is already hard at work with the expectations that he’ll factor heavily into the team’s 2023 plans.

The Patriots selected 12 players off the draft board. So they will have plenty of talent to sift through when cutting down their roster over the summer.

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Draft reaction: Patriots select Christian Gonzalez No. 17 overall

The New England Patriots selected Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez with the No. 17 overall pick

After a bit of a surprise selection with Emmanuel Forbes the New England Patriots found themselves with perhaps the most gifted cornerback in the class in Oregon Ducks defensive back Christian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has an elite athletic profile, with excellent length, speed, and fluid athleticism that projects very well at the next level. He was elite for Oregon after transferring from Colorado, putting up four interceptions after having none in his career at that point in his career.

Gonzalez should be an immediate boost to an already elite Patriots defense. An excellent man cover corner who has elite closing speed and an athletic profile that can fit right into Bill Belichick’s defensive scheme and add yet another dynamic defensive back to a sticky secondary.

Mailbag Monday 5/15: Will Kendrick Bourne be on opening day roster?

Kendrick Bourne’s future and Tom Brady’s return are both featured in this week’s mailbag.

We’re kick-starting this week’s mailbag with questions regarding the regular season roster, most notably with wideout Kendrick Bourne’s future with the New England Patriots.

Another fan touches on the Tom Brady return news, as well as the current state of the cornerback position in New England.

Be sure to follow @CamSGarrity on Twitter and submit questions to be answered on Mondays.

This is a chance to get some of your questions answered and generate good discussion across Patriots nation. Let’s get into this week’s submitted questions.

Projected rookie contracts for each of the Patriots’ 2023 draft picks

What the 2023 rookie contracts could look like for the Patriots.

There will be plenty of mouths to feed for the New England Patriots with the team selecting 12 rookies in the 2023 NFL draft.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick worked his way up and down the draft board, accumulating a bevy of picks and cashing in on as many players as possible. The influx of youth should serve as a breath of fresh air for a Patriots team that needed to build depth at multiple positions, most notably cornerback, offensive line and wide receiver.

With the draft now in the rearview, the next objective for the Patriots is signing all 12 of their rookie draft picks to a deal. They’ve already signed former LSU wideout Kayshon Boutte and offensive guard Atonio Mafi to their rookie deals.

However, there are still 10 more players that have yet to put pen to paper. Here’s a look at the projected values of those contracts, via Spotrac.com.

WATCH: Christian Gonzalez’s reaction behind the scenes at NFL draft

Relive the incredible moment of Christian Gonzalez becoming a Patriot.

Christian Gonzalez watched 16 other names come off the draft board before he was ultimately selected by the New England Patriots with the No. 17 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft. For a player projected to be a top-10 draft pick, an NFL dream was still realized.

That much was made apparent by seeing the former Oregon standout cornerback’s reaction behind the scenes when finding out he was going to be a Patriot.

New England’s social media team posted a video showing off Gonzalez being drafted and the immediate moments that followed, including his interaction with family members and the media. It even showed off the moment of his arrival at Gillette Stadium.

Gonzalez is expected to play a major role for the Patriots right out of the gates when joining a defensive backfield with Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones and Jack Jones.

It’ll be a fun fit for an already dynamic defense, particularly with Gonzalez being rated as the best in-game athlete of all 2023 first-round draft picks.

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Patriots rookie CB rated best in-game athlete of all first-round picks

Christian Gonzalez has superstar potential at the next level.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has always had an immaculate eye for defensive talent, but from strictly a physical perspective, he hasn’t coached too many players like rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

The No. 17 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft has rare traits that could dramatically change the defensive backfield for the Patriots. He has the size, speed and technique to keep up with the very best receivers in the game.

Oh, and his athleticism is absolutely through the roof.

According to Reel Analytics, the Patriots’ rookie cornerback finished with the highest athleticism rating in the first round.

Gonzalez could be one of the foundational pieces of the Patriots defense for years to come.

Going into the draft, many people had him listed as the top available cornerback. At the very least, he was widely projected as a top-10 pick. Early indication is this being a major steal for a Patriots team that had a real need in the defensive backfield.

With the Gonzalez pick, they’ve managed to address it in ways that wasn’t even believed possible.

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Full seven-round Patriots’ 2023 NFL re-draft

How did the Patriots make out in our 2023 NFL re-draft?

The New England Patriots didn’t miss much in the 2023 NFL draft, which should be considered a major success for the organization.

Granted, there are no certainties until the rookies actually back up their hyped potential on the football field, but the Patriots meticulously worked their way up and down the board with great effect.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t missed opportunities for the team to capitalize on. There were plenty of potential game-changers left on the board by a Patriots team that made some bold moves in this year’s draft, including moving up to take a kicker in the fourth round.

Now that mock drafting season is over, it’s time to start exploring a 2023 re-draft for the Patriots. In this seven-round re-draft, we’re going to pretend like the board unfolds the exact same way in terms of where players are taken. A couple of the trades remain, but there is another trade thrown in that enables the Patriots to come away with a major offensive weapon.

Here’s how the draft do-over panned out:

2023 NFL draft: RAS scores for every Patriots rookie

How do the RAS scores look for the Patriots’ 2023 NFL draft class?

The New England Patriots entered the 2023 NFL draft with 11 picks and came out with 12 players. It could be seen as a situation of coach Bill Belichick throwing as many darts at the board as possible just to see what sticks.

But make no mistake, these weren’t aimless throws.

In a draft that was heavy on the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots opened up by taking three defenders that could be foundational playmakers of the future for the team. They also addressed the offensive line by adding three interior enforcers, along with taking a flier on two promising receivers for the skilled positions.

They even came away with a kicker and punter in this year’s draft. Belichick checked every box and didn’t let a single pick go to waste. We’ll see if it pays off in the 2023 season.

Today, we’re looking at every Patriots rookie’s Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which is a tool created by Kent Lee Platte that measures a player’s athletic testing to their size, while also taking history into account. The Patriots came away with at least four players with a 9.00 score or higher.

Here’s how the entire 2023 rookie class scored:

2024 Mock Draft Roundup: Where Oregon’s stars are projected to land next April

Oregon had 1 player go in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. That number is expected to go up in 2024.

Isn’t it funny how after one thing ends in the world of college football, we immediately move onto the next year and start looking ahead by making projections and predictions?

It happens with the ‘Way-Too-Early Top-25 Rankings’ that come out the morning after the national championship game every year, and we’ve now seen it take place with the 2024 NFL Draft. On Saturday afternoon, the 2023 draft came to a close, seeing a total of six Oregon Ducks selected by NFL teams, and three five more either sign as undrafted free agents or accept invites to rookie minicamps.

Despite all of that news, it comes as no surprise that a round of 2024 NFL Mock Drafts were hot on the press Monday morning, predicting which college players will be at the top of the news cycle next April, looking to make their professional dreams come true.

We decided to sift through all of these mocks for you and figure out where your beloved Ducks are projected to go. While only one Oregon player — CB Christian Gonzalez — was taken in the first round this last season, there seems to be a good chance that number gets bigger next spring.

Here are where all of the Ducks are projected to land in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Oregon Draft Tracker: An updated list of where Pro Ducks were drafted or signed

Ducks are flying off of the board in the 2023 NFL Draft. Take a look at where they’ve landed.

While a lot of Oregon Duck fans are focused on the annual spring game taking place on Saturday, one of the most notable events of the year in the world of football is also taking place with the 2023 NFL Draft.

We’ve already seen a big success for the Ducks early on, with cornerback Christian Gonzalez being selected by the New England Patriots with the No. 17 pick on Thursday night. Oregon edge rusher DJ Johnson kept things rolling on Friday when the Carolina Panthers selected him in the third round.

There are still a number of players waiting to get the call from an NFL team this weekend, though, and the anxiety starts to ramp up as the draft comes to a close on Saturday night.

Of course, if players don’t get drafted, though, there are opportunities for them to sign as undrafted free agents, and work out for a team trying to make the roster or practice squad this summer.

We wanted to keep track of where all of the former Ducks have gone or are going this spring, and where they will play at the next level. Here’s an updated list of who is going where so far: