Patriots’ Gonzalez Could Be Key Piece That’s Been Missing On Defense
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Posted Under: 2023 Patriots Offseason
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It’s hard not to look at the selection of Christian Gonzalez with a fair amount of optimism, especially given some of the recent history when it comes to how much success the New England Patriots have had with an extremely competent cornerback lining up on the outside.
Having looked at some additional film since he was selected, Gonzalez is far and away one of the most fluid and fundamentally sound players the team has added in quite a while, especially given his size and length. He’s a player who really can start matching up and challenging some of the bigger players around the league, which was certainly lacking last season.
The match-up on Thanksgiving remains one of the more glaring moments of the season. Going up against Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson (6’1″, 203lbs), Jonathan Jones did about as much as he could staying with him. Despite finishing with 9 catches for 139-yards and a touchdown, a lot of that damage came with the Vikings hitting Jefferson on short throws to give the speedy receiver a chance to make some plays with his feet.
However, one throw that stood out was a 37-yard completion to Jefferson against Jones in the second quarter. On the play, Jones initially allowed the Vikings wideout to get behind him, yet he closed the gap and was right there as the ball arrived. But Jefferson went up and snagged the pass, coming down with a big gain even with Jones right there on him.
Bill Belichick often says, despite solid coverage, sometimes guys just make a great play and there’s not much you can do. That was essentially what happened, as Jones made a terrific attempt to knock the football away but just didn’t quite have the length to get up and make it more of a contested grab.
That deep play got the Vikings back into Patriots territory, and it ultimately led to a touchdown.
Jefferson got Jones again early in the fourth quarter, with Kirk Cousins throwing a perfectly thrown ball over both him and Devin McCourty, with the receiver again making an unreal catch between both players. That one went for 36 yards and set up another touchdown, which put Minnesota up 33-26 and that ended up being the final.
In the NFL, it’s a game of inches, and on that day, it was a battle between New England’s best defensive back and Jefferson, who won the day primarily thanks to his size. Now, after adding Gonzalez, the Patriots have some additional length and speed to help them there.
What’s also somewhat of a forgotten storyline is how much more effective it’s going to make Jones given that he carried the most weight in New England’s secondary last season. He was New England’s go-to guy for much of the year, and if Gonzalez ends up starting by week one, that could give them the ability to play more to Jones’s strengths inside and take away another opponent’s option.
That was somewhat evident in Week 16 when New England played Cincinnati. With Jack Jones out of the line-up, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones split time battling J’Marr Chase for a lot of that contest, while Marcus Jones also saw a fair amount of match-ups against Tee Higgins.
Higgins, who is 6’4″, 218lbs, used his size against Marcus Jones (5’8″, 174lbs) on the second play of that game when Joe Burrow threw a perfect ball up the right sideline that Higgins went up and snagged, with Burrow dropping in a ball that Higgins leaped up and spun around for, with Jones not quite able to get his arm in to knock it away.
He scored three plays later after Burrow hit him on a quick throw just outside the end zone, and Higgins barreled over Jonathan Jones for the touchdown.
With two big athletic receivers, this was another game where the Patriots could have used someone like Gonzalez, as having a bigger defensive back to deal with that type of duo certainly could have helped them. Marcus Jones was still solid in this game from a coverage standpoint, as he was right there on the majority of targets, but he just lost the physical match-up.
Fortunately, Belichick has addressed that need. Provided Gonzalez develops into the player he appears to be, they’ll be in great shape. For a defense that essentially retained most of its starting line-up, aside from losing McCourty to retirement, the addition of Gonzalez really does have them heading into 2023 with an overall formidable group.
With the draft now behind him, Gonzalez will get his first taste of what the future holds when the team begins its rookie minicamp in the coming days.
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