Tag: Christian Gonzalez

Former Duck CB Christian Gonzalez earns NFL award for September

Former Oregon Duck cornerback and current New England Patriot Christian Gonzalez was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.

Sixteen other NFL teams might feel silly right about now.

Former Oregon Duck cornerback and current New England Patriot Christian Gonzalez was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.

New England selected Gonzalez in the first round, 17th overall, and so far it looks like a great pick. In his first three games, Gonzalez has 16 total tackles, a sack and an interception for the 1-2 Patriots. The team is coming off its first win of the season, a 15-10 victory over the Jets.

In that win, Gonzalez had three tackles. In the season opener against Philadelphia, he sacked quarterback Jalen Hurts for an eight-yard loss in the fourth quarter for his first career NFL sack. Gonzalez recorded his first NFL interception in the fourth quarter in Week 2 against Miami when he picked off a deep pass by Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa intended for Tyreek Hill. He is the only rookie with a pass defended in each of the first three weeks of the season.

Tracking Jalen Carter’s path to NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award entering Week 4

We’re ranking the 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates and tracking Philadelphia #Eagles’ defensive tackle Jalen Carter’s chances via @Thacover2NFL

Jalen Carter was the initial first-round pick to sign his rookie deal.

Before the season, the former Georiga All-American manifested huge goals, and through three weeks in Sean Desai’s system, he’s on his way toward a triumphant affirmation.

Carter wants to win the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award, and heading into a Week 4 matchup against Washington at Lincoln Financial Field, the defensive tackle has staked his claim to that award and a potential Pro Bowl and All-Pro nomination.

We’re tracking Carter’s path to winning the award from now until Week 17, and ahead of Sunday’s game against the Commanders, it’s Carter’s award to lose.

Patriots rookie awarded NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors

This could be the first of many NFL honors for this Patriots rookie

New England Patriots rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez has been awarded NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors, following an incredible three-game stretch to start the season.

Being thrown into the deep end of the pool before learning to swim isn’t even a good enough comparison to describe the start to Gonzalez’s rookie season. A better comparison would be getting dumped off in the middle of an ocean full of sharks.

Gonzalez was forced to learn on the job with one-on-one matchups against the likes of Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Garrett Wilson, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle right out of the gates.

And so far, he has won a high percentage of those matchups.

Hill came out after the Dolphins game and praised the rookie cornerback after their first head-to-head meeting.

“I was able to go against their rookie. He’s real good,” Hill said on an episode of the “It Needed To Be Said” podcast, via the Vocal Podcast Network. “Very lengthy corner, had some real good technique and speed about him. So they’ve got some real good pieces over there in New England, man. So shout out to New England.”

It’s scary to think Gonzalez is just getting started with no knowledge of how high the ceiling could go.

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Steve Belichick not surprised by Christian Gonzalez’s early success

Some in the Patriots’ building saw Christian Gonzalez’s early success coming before the season even started

New England Patriots rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez is impressing his coaches three weeks into the season.

Gonzalez has been matched up with some of the toughest wide receivers in the NFL, and he has taken each and every challenge by storm.

Just look at New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson’s statistics, when matched up with the Patriots’ talented defensive back. Per Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar, the receiver caught only three receptions for 18 yards.

Gonzalez was able to hold his own against the likes of Miami Dolphins All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill as well. Hill tallied zero catches on two targets, and one of those throws was intercepted.

The body of work that the Oregon product has been able to put forth is impressive but not surprising to the Patriots coaching staff, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Zack Cox.

“I don’t know if I would say surprised, just because we did a lot of work on him coming out of college,” said Patriots defensive play-caller Steve Belichick. “You could see a lot of these traits when you watched all the college tape and stuff like that. So, I wouldn’t say surprised, but he’s been playing really well so far, which is the expectation for all the players we have around here.

“But I’m definitely happy we have him. This is why we drafted him and everybody else. I’m happy that he’s doing well and hope it can continue.”

Several of New England’s recent draft classes have been criticized quite loudly by fans and media alike. Many thought the Patriots should have selected a wide receiver with their first pick in the draft.

Nevertheless, Gonzalez is continuing the Patriots’ successful tradition of drafting corners.

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Cowboys OC heaps massive praise on Patriots rookie CB Christian Gonzalez

Cowboys OC Brian Schottenheimer believes Christian Gonzalez is a special player.

The New England Patriots are facing the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, and Cowboys coaches are taking notice of some of the Patriots’ best defensive players.

Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer especially gave props to rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has been impressing over his first few weeks in the NFL. He has guarded some of the league’s best receivers and managed to hold his own. He could be in for another strong challenge on Sunday as he presumably will guard CeeDee Lamb, another one of the top receivers in the league.

One thing is certain: Gonzalez is earning respect, despite being a rookie. Schottenheimer knows what he is game planning against, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Zack Cox.

“If there’s a better young corner in the league than Gonzalez, you’d be hard-pressed to find (him),” said Schottenheimer. “He’s playing at a really high level. They matched him on Tyreek a couple weeks ago, Garrett Wilson (on Sunday). Really playing at a high level.”

The predicted chess match between Gonzalez and Lamb will be an interesting subplot in Sunday’s game. Lamb already has 273 yards on the season. So the rookie corner will have his work cut out for him.

But so far, Gonzalez has shown the ability to be able to step up to any challenge in his way.

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Patriots’ top 10 defensive players in Week 3, per PFF grades

Here are PFF’s highest-graded defensive players for the Patriots in Week 3.

Another defensive masterclass for the New England Patriots earned the team their first 2023 regular season win on Sunday. They pummeled the New York Jets offense (as is usually the case) in a 15-10 road victory.

Three games into the season and it’s already clear that the Patriots have one of the best defenses in the league. Keep in mind, this has been a team playing with only one of their starting cornerbacks. Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones and Marcus Jones have all been out with injuries.

That has left the bulk of the work to rookie first-round draft pick Christian Gonzalez, Myles Bryant and Shaun Wade. Gonzalez’s sudden emergence into one of the league’s top corners has obviously been a huge help, along with the pressure the Patriots have been able to get up front.

It was like a full-on WWE session in the Jets’ offensive backfield with quarterback Zach Wilson getting body-slammed and rag-dolled by Patriots defenders through four quarters.

Today, we’re ranking the top-10 Patriots defenders in Week 3 by their Pro Football Focus grades. It’s important to note that we haven’t taken snap count into consideration for this particular list.

So while a player like linebacker Matthew Judon was the obvious MVP of this game, he wasn’t given a top-10 PFF grade.

How former Ducks performed in Week 3 of the NFL

Jevon Holland cemented himself as one of the best safeties in the NFL, while Justin Herbert did Justin Herbert things.

This week was an exciting one for pro Oregon Ducks. A large portion of the games that featured former Oregon football stars, resulted in a win for that former Duck’s team.

Jevon Holland in particular had an impressive performance this week as his team had one of the most decisive victories since the AFL was alive over the Broncos. Justin Herbert also brought his best stuff to the field on Sunday and had his best game of the young season.

Across the league, more Ducks are getting shots with their respective teams. It’s good to see this list getting longer each week.

Below is a report on each professional Oregon Duck’s Week 3 performance:

These Christian Gonzalez numbers against elite receivers are ridiculous

Christian Gonzalez is locking down elite receivers right out of the gates.

New England Patriots rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez is only three games into his NFL career, and he already looks like one of the best defensive backs in the league.

There were expectations that he’d have a shaky start right out of the gates given the murderer’s row list of elite receivers he’d be tasked with defending. To make matters worse, the Patriots have been dealt with multiple injury blows on the backend of the defense, which has immediately rushed Gonzalez to the top of the depth chart.

It was sink or swim in a pool full of sharks for the former Oregon standout. The only difference is Gonzalez isn’t just swimming. He’s living in the deep waters as one of the sharks.

Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar broke down the success Gonzalez has had when matched up against top receivers like Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Garrett Wilson.

These are Defensive Rookie of the Year type numbers if Gonzalez stays on the path. Miami Dolphins star receiver Hill talked up the Patriots’ rookie on a podcast last week.

“I was able to go against their rookie. He’s real good,” Hill said, when talking about Gonzalez on an episode of the “It Needed To Be Said” podcast, via the Vocal Podcast Network. “Very lengthy corner, had some real good technique and speed about him. So they’ve got some real good pieces over there in New England, man. So shout out to New England.”

Gonzalez already looks like one of the biggest steals of the 2023 NFL draft at No. 17. So far, he is everything the Patriots hoped he would be—and so much more.

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Patriot’s rookie Christian Gonzalez has been a lockdown corner already

Christian Gonzalez was one of the top cornerbacks in the 2023 NFL draft.

It was a bit of a draft day surprise when top-ranked defensive back Christian Gonzalez tumbled down the board on day one before ending up falling right into the New England Patriots lap at number seventeen overall. That tumble however seems to have worked out for both parties as Gonzalez has been a lockdown corner right away for this Bill Belichick defense.

In the last two weeks, Gonzalez has been asked to cover some of the best receivers in the NFL in Garrett Wilson and Tyreek Hill, both of whom play in the same division as Gonzalez, who was clearly up to the challenge. In those two games combined Gonzalez held both Hill and Wilson to just two catches for five yards. This feat by Gonzalez is astonishing when you consider that no one else who has faced these teams has been able to cover either of these receivers, who both popped off in their other games in the season.

Gonzalez is proving all of his believers right and adapting a skillset that made him projected at the top of many draft boards. It is scary to think he is this good already in just the third game of his career, and given his unreal physical potential, Gonzalez could claim the top cornerback spot sooner rather than later.

With the breakout of Gonzalez as well as Sauce Gardner, Xavien Howard, Tre’Davious White, and Jalen Ramsey all in the same division, the AFC East looks like they boast the best secondary out of any division, and it doesn’t even look remotely close.

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Studs and duds in Patriots’ nail-biting 15-10 win over Jets

Who were the studs and duds in the Patriots’ 15-10 win over the Jets?

A win is a win.

That appears to be the mindset for the New England Patriots after nearly blowing Sunday’s road game against the New York Jets.

The offense failed to close the game on multiple drives, leaving a last-minute opportunity in the hands of Jets quarterback Zach Wilson on a seemingly impossible Hail Mary throw that nearly ended in a touchdown.

Fortunately for the Patriots, the ball narrowly missed the awaiting hands of Randall Cobb, and the clock ticked to zero for a New England 15-10 victory. Patriots Twitter seemed a bit uneasy after the game with another tough matchup against the Dallas Cowboys slated for Week 4.

There were both good and bad moments on the field for the Patriots against the Jets. Let’s take a look at the studs and duds from their first win of the season.