Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez is passing the eye test: Film Breakdown
In this film breakdown, we take a look at New England Patriots rookie CB Christian Gonzalez, who has been solid through his first 2 games, despite having to cover A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle.
Christian Gonzalez has flashed his elite talent through the first three games of the season. Gonzalez has shown that he can put the clamps on anyone in the league, regardless of the matchup.
Gonzalez has given up a lot of cheap yards underneath, however his coverage has actually been pretty strong downfield. Gonzalez still has plenty to improve on, but through three weeks, he is passing the eye test. I look forward to watching what he brings to this New England secondary.
New England Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez Film Breakdown
Disclaimer: The following is a transcript of a YouTube video titled “Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez is Passing the Eye Test: Film Breakdown” The content is for informational purposes only and was originally presented in video format.
**this video was recorded prior to the Patriots week 3 win over the Jets**
In Christian Gonzalez's first two starts in the NFL, he's covered A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle. That's about as tough as it gets for a rookie corner, and he's come out of that with a pass breakup, an interception, and the sixth highest PFF coverage grade in the league.
And I thought there was a clear improvement from week one to week two. Against the Eagles, they were kinda trading shots back and forth. But in the Dolphins game, I only charted one true loss. There was a dig route from Jaylen Waddle against off coverage.
Other than that, he was playing pressed man against both of Miami's receivers, and he didn't give up much of anything. We're still in that stage of the season where I don't want to make any conclusions about these players. But through two weeks, Christian Gonzalez has been the best rookie corner and he's had the most difficult assignments.
He's definitely passed the eye test, but like I first game against Philadelphia was much more of a mixed bag. He gave up 7 catches for 71 yards on 10 targets, and I would probably say the Eagles top 2 receivers collectively won that matchup, which is the expected outcome for a rookie. But he was playing some very conservative off coverage, so he gave up a lot of cheap yards where, based on his alignment, he didn't really have much of a chance.
And he still had plenty of good reps. Right here, it's 4th and 4. He's covering a slant from DeVonta Smith. Really quick break out of a standstill. He establishes contact and undercuts the route. Almost gets an interception, which would have cost the Patriots 10 yards. But this is a game changing play against one of the best route runners in the NFL. He did get beat on a slant by A. J. Brown.
He uses a diamond release, which is one of the most common and effective ways of running a slant against inside leverage press. So Gonzales is shaded inside for Brown to win on this slant route. He has to work against the defender's leverage, so he makes himself a vertical threat and attacks the outside shoulder, which gets Christian Gonzales to turn his hips to the sideline.
He does a nice job here even though he gets turned around of identifying the route quickly. If A. J. Brown releases outside and then starts getting choppy with his feet and gives a hard jab step upfield, that should tell you he's running a slant. So Gonzalez is able to react before Brown actually cuts and he throws up his inside catch hand. But Brown's ready to chop that hand down and he gets separation over the middle.
If you watch his footwork at the line of scrimmage, you can see his first step is with the inside foot and he doesn't have that wide of a base initially. So his heels click together and then he takes a wide step backwards with the outside foot, which puts his weight displacement on his heels and creates too much space between himself and the receiver. So when he tries to catch with the offhand, he's too far away to make meaningful contact.
When it comes to vertical routes I don't think Christian Gonzalez has lost a single rep through the first two weeks right here he's in soft shoe press on A.J. Brown where he isn't jamming immediately. He kick slides with the outside release and then transitions once Brown accelerates downfield. In this situation you want to punch at the inside shoulder to stay on top of the route but the receiver is going to try to wipe his hand down.
So he does a good job being patient here once A. J. Brown has his hand down at his wrist, he punches and then quickly draws it back in, waits for the second wipe, and then replaces his punch. So great job by Christian Gonzalez of hand fighting down the field. He's more aggressive at the line of scrimmage, he jams Tyreek Hill immediately, and stays attached for the entire rep. You could probably argue that this was a hold, he's definitely making contact past the 5 yards. But I have noticed that if a corner wins at the line of skirmish and establishes contact early in the rep, refs are a lot less likely to throw a flag for keeping that hand placement.
Right here he's got DeVonta Smith running a double move. Great eye discipline by Christian Gonzalez. He keeps his eyes locked on the receiver's hips. He doesn't crash too aggressively when Smith throttles down. He maintains some cushion and stays on top of the route. DeVonta Smith gives a fake inside, but Gonzalez doesn't bite on that at all, and then he gets in phase and Smith can't stack him downfield.
The patriots had him play a few snaps at safety and he made this incredible interception in week two he's covering the deep half I don't know if he sees this wheel route from Tyreek Hill. But he drifts inside and it gives you a lot of space for this whole shot. The ball's underthrown, but Gonzalez is able to flip his hips and maintain speed and then box out Tyreek Hill for the interception.
Looking at the plays he gave up from the first two weeks, like I said, there were a lot of times he was in off coverage, giving a ton of cushion, and he got beat on a dig or a quick out. The easiest way to stop this would be to get closer so you can make contact at the route break.
If you're playing outside leverage 10 yards off the line of scrimmage and the receiver breaks inside three yards in front of you, there aren't a lot of NFL corners that can cover that consistently. But if you are going to play with that much cushion and try to stay on top of everything you've got to be able to crash downhill and tackle because the whole point is limiting big plays. Right here he takes way too wide of an angle on DeVonta Smith who easily spins inside and gets the first down.
On this play he's in press coverage on A.J. Brown. He gives him the inside release because he's got linebackers in zone coverage over the middle. But he doesn't get in phase, and he over pursues inside. A.J. Brown sits, and then breaks out, and it's just really hard to stick with a route like this if you don't make any contact, and you can't feel out the break.And then final play, the Dolphins are running this play action glance concept they always run. Gonzalez is keying to his drop here, so he's reading his footwork.
And if it's a three step drop, the ball's most likely coming out fast, so he needs to get his eyes on the receiver and try to cut off the route.I don't know why Gonzalez turns his hips to the sideline like this. Miami runs so many in-breakers off of play action, he's gotta stay square and give himself a chance to plan and drive over the middle.
So there's definitely room for improvement with his press footwork and playing routes a little bit tighter from off coverage, but overall, I'm really impressed with what Christian Gonzalez was able to do in his first NFL action covering two of the top three receiving duos in the league.
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