Tag: Christian Gonzalez

2023 NFL mock draft: Alex Katson’s pre-free agency first-round projections

2023 NFL Draft first-round predictions including pick-by-pick analysis from Chargers Wire’s Alex Katson.

While pro days and top 30 meetings have yet to be completed and more than a month remains until the draft, the conclusion of the NFL Combine last week has brought a little bit of clarity into teams’ plans at the top of the order. Of course, we’ve seen smokescreens before, and what we perceive to be clarity could in fact be gamesmanship.

Either way, I thought I’d use the ever-accelerating rumor mill as an excuse to put together my first full mock draft of the draft cycle. While I did include trades, I did not include a general framework for compensation, so you’ll have to do that calculus yourself.

Who do the Commanders land in new mock draft after huge trade for No. 1 overall pick?

How did the trade between the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers shake up the latest mock draft from CBS?

The Carolina Panthers shook up the NFL world with Friday’s trade to acquire the No. 1 overall pick from the Chicago Bears. The Bears acquired a haul from the Panthers and will presumably select their quarterback of the future in next month’s NFL draft.

How does Carolina’s trade impact the rest of the first round? Well, it’s almost certain that quarterbacks will go with the first two picks between Carolina and the Houston Texans. Whichever two quarterbacks aren’t selected means two other first-round prospects will slide down the board.

The consensus is Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud are the top two quarterback prospects, while Anthony Richardson is third. However, some teams may view these rankings differently.

For a team like the Washington Commanders, who pick at No. 16, the more quarterbacks that go in front of them push a good player down. In his latest mock draft for CBS, Chris Trapasso has the Commanders landing Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez at No. 16.

The Commanders jump at this opportunity to get a star outside cornerback onto this roster.

In some mock drafts, Gonzalez has gone as high as No. 6 to the Detroit Lions. Washington would be thrilled if Gonzalez dropped to No. 16.

The most interesting scenario for the Commanders would be if one of the four quarterbacks slide down the board. While that is unlikely to happen, draft season is silly season, and you can never rule out anything.

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Oregon Spring Ball Position Battles: CB full of talent, short on experience

Oregon needs to fill the void left by corner Christian Gonzalez, but the Ducks have plenty of exciting options to choose from.

The cornerback position is often called an island because it’s the one place on the football field where it’s you and the other guy and no one else.

In 2023, the Oregon Ducks will have plenty of corners that possess pure talent, but they lack the experience a coaching staff prefers. They’re going to get that experience this year no matter what.

Oregon is definitely going to miss all-conference performer Christian Gonzalez, who will be a first-round draft pick in April. Not only will it miss his on-the-field abilities, but also his leadership qualities off the field. For those battling it out to be his replacement, showing leadership could be the determining factor of who sees the more playing time.

Of course, coming down with a few interceptions would help as well.

The Ducks will have the option of some high-profile recruits, some veterans, and a transfer from Alabama to fill the void Gonzalez left behind. This particular battle in spring football could be one of the more interesting ones for Oregon as they prepare for the Spring Game on April 29.

Here are the likely candidates to battle it out over the next month or so in Eugene.

4 takeaways from the Eagles granting CB Darius Slay permission to seek a trade

We’re looking at 4 takeaways from the Friday morning news that the Philadelphia Eagles have granted Darius Slay permission to seek a trade

All-Pro cornerback Darius Slay could be on the move after Dianna Russini reported that the Eagles have granted the veteran permission to seek a trade.

A team leader and first-time captain in 2022, Slay started in all 17 regular season games played, logging 55 tackles, 14 pass deflections, and three interceptions.

Slay earned the fifth Pro Bowl selection of his career and is looking to play at least two-three more seasons.

With that news breaking, here are four takeaways with notes.

Commanders continue to land Illinois cornerback in latest mock draft from The Athletic

The Commanders continue to land defensive help in a new post-combine mock draft.

NFL free agency begins next, giving teams a chance to fill some holes ahead of next month’s 2023 NFL draft.

For the Washington Commanders, outside of quarterback, which the team is intent on giving second-year QB Sam Howell a chance, the team’s top needs are on the offensive line and at cornerback.

The Commanders met with multiple corners and offensive linemen at the combine last week. Washington paid specific attention to the offensive line, having formal meetings with over 20 prospects in Indianapolis. The Commanders have already scheduled Ohio State offensive tackle Dawand Jones for a top-30 visit ahead of the draft.

If the Commanders can add at least one starter on the offensive line in free agency, someone who is better than Andrew Norwell or Trai Turner, that opens up the possibilities in the draft. Washington can take a cornerback in the first round and look to find offensive line help in the second and third rounds where there is good depth.

In his post-combine mock draft, Dane Brugler of The Athletic sees Washington picking Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 16:

Although he doesn’t have ideal size (5-11 1/2, 181 pounds), Witherspoon plays much bigger than he looks and has the tape of an immediate NFL starter. Between the need on Washington’s roster and Witherspoon’s talent and play personality, the Illinois product wouldn’t be a hard sell to head coach Ron Rivera.

The Commanders are believed to have met with Witherspoon and Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. at the combine. It’s uncertain if the Commanders with Christian Gonzalez of Oregon.

In Brugler’s mock draft, Witherspoon is the third defensive back taken. He has Gonzalez landing at No. 6 and Alabama’s Brian Branch going No. 15. Porter lands one pick after the Commanders. 

Some consider Witherspoon to be the top cornerback prospect in this strong class. If he were the pick at No. 16, it would be good value for the Commanders. 

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Vikings Wednesday NFL mock draft roundup

There were a lot of different mock drafts that dropped for the Vikings on Wednesday. Get caught up on everyone mocked to the Vikings

After the NFL Scouting Combine, we have a lot more information on the prospects in the 2023 draft class. Even though the dataset isn’t quite complete, it gives us a better idea of where prospects will go.

With free agency set to begin, we will see some changes with these mock drafts when players start signing with new teams and modifying team needs.

On Wednesday, there were a lot of mock drafts that dropped and we are here to catch you up on all of them.

A mock draft trade-down scenario that makes sense for Cardinals

In a PFF mock draft, the Bears get Will Anderson after trading back a spot. That leads to the Cardinals trading back and landing a CB.

The Arizona Cardinals hold the third overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft and many are calling for the team to make a trade back to acquire more picks and future picks.

That’s nice, but there is also a special pass-rushing prospect in Alabama’s Will Anderson who fills a huge need, is a great talent and plays a premium position.

He solves a lot of problems.

However, in a mock draft from Pro Football Focus, trading down makes perfect sense.

Here is the scenario — the Chicago Bears, who hold the first overall pick, trade back but only to the second pick. The Houston Texans make their selection first overall at quarterback and then the Bears take Anderson.

That prompts the Cardinals to trade back. They move back to the ninth overall pick, trading with the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the ninth pick and probably a mix of Day 2 picks in this draft and their first-rounder in 2024.

With the ninth pick, the Cardinals land Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez, one of the stars of the NFL combine.

Gonzalez is the total package physically. He’s got all-pro tools but just needs a little refinement to get there.

He is 6-foot-1, 197 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.38 seconds.

He had four interceptions and broke up seven passes in 2022 for the Ducks.

This trade back makes perfect sense. If they can’t get Anderson, trade back, get another top pick and more picks.

If Anderson is there, don’t overthink it.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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2023 two-round NFL mock draft: Matt Anderson’s mock draft 3.0

With the combine in the books, there is a lot more information on players. With that in mind, @MattAnderson_8 give you his latest mock draft

With the NFL Combine now in the rearview mirror, teams across the league have a much clearer picture of the top prospects in this year’s draft class. With all this information in hand, front offices will now begin the process of finalizing their draft boards and strategizing for the upcoming NFL Draft in April. As the anticipation builds, it’s time to take a closer look at some of the potential top picks in this year’s draft and the teams that might be interested in them.

2023 NFL draft: Consensus big board top 20 cornerback rankings

Knowing that, here are the top 20 corners in this class, per the consensus big board.

How good was the Seahawks’ draft class last year? They somehow managed to make lightning strike twice in almost the exact same spot.

11 years after landing future superstar cornerback Richard Sherman at No. 154 overall, they found themselves another in Tariq Woolen last year with the No. 153 pick. This year they’ll have a chance to get another special corner, as the 2023 NFL draft features a relatively strong crop of them. In fact, most draft analysts consider it the deepest position in the entire class.

Seattle has already met with a couple of cornerback prospects at the combine, so we know they’re at least looking. Knowing that, here are the top 20 corners in this class, per the consensus big board.

Christian Gonzalez skyrockets inside top 10 of latest ESPN mock draft

After his impressive NFL Combine performance, Christian Gonzalez moved up more than 10 spots in the latest mock from ESPN.

A lot of football fans look at the NFL Combine as more of show, rather than a meaningful opportunity for players. While it’s sometimes important to see how fast a player can run, how far they can jump, or how much weight they can bench press, it often doesn’t give us a perfect comparison to what they can do on the field when actually playing the game of football.

However, we’ve seen in the past how valuable the combine can be when you perform to the best of your abilities, and we’re seeing it once again with Oregon Ducks cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was named one of the biggest winners at the combine last week, and he’s seen a drastic change in his projected draft position because of that. On Tuesday morning in ESPN’s latest mock draft from Todd McShay, Gonzalez moved up to the No. 6 overall pick, going to the Detroit Lions.

I know I keep using the 6.2 yards allowed per play number for the Lions, but it was the NFL’s sixth-worst number for the past decade. Armed with a pair of first-rounders and a chunk of cap space, Detroit has to get better on that side of the ball. It has gotten up-and-down production from Jeff Okudah, the team’s top-three pick in 2020, and the other corner spot is open with Amani Oruwariye primed to be a free agent next week.

At 6-1 and 197 pounds, Gonzalez confirmed the speed and explosion we saw on tape during the combine. He posted a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash and jumped 41.5 inches in the vertical and 11-foot-1 in the broad. And with four interceptions in 2022, he can make plays on the ball.

This is a notable improvement, with McShay previously projecting that Gonzo would be drafted with the No. 17 pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers a few weeks ago.

We are still over a month away from the 2023 NFL Draft taking place, but it will be interesting to see how Gonzalez moves throughout the first round until then. We will also see how he performs at Oregon’s Pro Day on March 14th, and whether or not that has an impact as well.

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