Oregon's Christian Gonzalez skyrockets in Todd McShay's latest NFL Draft rankings
Since he arrived at Oregon, Christan Gonzalez’s stock has been on a meteoric rise.
The sophomore cornerback is in the midst of a breakout season after transferring in from Colorado last winter and his NFL Draft value is soaring as a result.
On Friday, ESPN’s Todd McShay released an updated top-32 for his 2023 NFL Draft power ranking and Gonzalez made the cut.
McShay listed Gonzalez as the No. 17 overall player and the No. 2 cornerback behind Kelee Ringo of Georgia. Previously, McShay had Gonzalez tabbed as his No. 24 overall prospect.
“Gonzalez was a two-year starter at Colorado before transferring to Oregon, and he has an impressive blend of size, length and speed,” McShay wrote. “There’s room for improvement when it comes to turning to locate the ball, but he’s an effective press corner. Gonzalez is strong and long enough to reroute receivers, and he’s fast enough to stay in their back pocket.
“He can also get off blocks and flashes good stopping power as a tackler. And he’s versatile enough to line up over the slot and play safety, though he fits best on the outside. Gonzalez has three interceptions (tied for 24th in the country) and seven pass breakups.”
Gonzalez, a 4-star signee in the class of 2020, has emerged as arguably Oregon’s most impactful defensive player during his first season in Eugene.
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He has 44 tackles, one tackle for loss, three interceptions, and seven pass breakups.
According to Pro Football Focus, Gonzalez has a 77.8 overall defensive grade which is the second-best among all Oregon defensive players and the best among the program’s starters. PFF lists Gonzalez’s tackling grade as the 26th best in the nation among cornerbacks.
His best-graded performance of the season came in Week 10 when he returned to Boulder to face Colorado and grabbed two interceptions against his former school.”
“I love Christian being part of our team,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said prior to the Colorado game. “You don’t know when you bring a guy in that’s been somewhere else what they’re going to be like and we’ve been really fortunate to be able to bring great players in that have been at other organizations. But what makes Christian special is he has phenomenal character. I know he wants to go perform well, at a high level.”
Gonzalez is one of just three Pac-12 players that cracked McShay’s latest first-round projection. USC receiver Jordan Addison (No. 15) and Utah cornerback Clark Phillips III (No. 30) are the others.
In McShay’s exhaustive 2023 NFL Draft rankings, seven Ducks landed on the 286-player list.
- Gonzalez (No. 17)
- ILB Noah Sewell (No. 64)
- DL Brandon Dorlus (No. 78)
- OL T.J. Bass (No. 130)
- EDGE DJ Johnson (No. 172)
- ILB Justin Flowe (No. 198)
- OL Alex Forsyth (No. 238)
- QB Bo Nix (No. 245)
