Joel Klatt projects Detroit Lions to take Christian Gonzalez

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt projected the Detroit Lions to take Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez with the No. 6 overall pick in his mock draft.

Gonzalez is considered one of the top defensive backs in the class and Klatt felt the Lions could use a luxury item in the secondary. So far, the Lions addressed the secondary through the draft and free agency over the last couple of seasons under Dan Campbell.

But after the trade of former top pick and Ohio State star Jeff Okudah, Gonzalez could slide right in.

“And I like Christian Gonzalez here to the Lions,” Klatt said on his podcast. “I think that you look at what they’ve done in the secondary and I know that they’ve addressed it in the draft and they’ve addressed some free agency as well, but his length … he just looks the part. And these are the type of guys that you can easily project into being a No. 1 corner and a guy that can be a really lock down guy. 

“One of the ways that you can improve young pass rushers is give them some good quality cover corners, so that the ball can come out of the quarterback’s hand quickly. So how do you help Aidan Hutchinson? You give him some good quality secondary players and I think that they can do that with Christian Gonzalez.”

Gonzalez played for Colorado in 2020 and ‘21 before his transfer to Oregon. In three college seasons, he finished with 128 total tackles, 100 solo tackles, six tackles for loss, four interceptions and 17 pass deflections.

As a member of the Class of 2020, Gonzalez was a four-star recruit out of The Colony (Texas) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 43 overall recruit in the state, the No. 27 safety in the class and the No. 311 overall recruit in the class.

Ahead of the draft, Gonzalez discussed his relationship with Arizona Cardinals quarterback David Blough, who gave him some advice before the pros.

Gonzalez’s connection with Blough stems from his sister. Gonzalez is related to Colombian-American hurdler Melissa Gonzalez, who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. Blough married Melissa in March of 2019.

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“Yeah, big resource, you know, as someone in my direct family that I can talk to that has been through the process of playing in college (and the pros),” Gonzalez said. “He’s somebody that I talked to growing up all the time, you know, he was always around our house. I remember playing with him when I was like 10 years old, you know, just running around, throwing the ball. So it’s just all come full circle. Great to have him.”