FOXBORO — On the surface, cornerback Christian Gonzalez has been one of the few bright spots on a Patriots team that’s 1-2 and seemingly getting worse by the week.
Gonzalez has faced off against Ja’Marr Chase, DK Metcalf and Garrett Wilson, three of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and he’s let up 13 catches on 20 targets for just 79 yards and a touchdown with a pass breakup when he’s been in coverage on those players.
PFF has Gonzalez ranked as the second-lowest-graded cornerback on the Patriots’ roster, however, with a 53.2 mark and 87th out of 106 qualified cornerbacks.
“I don’t really care, to be honest,” Gonzalez told the Herald when asked about his ranking. “Anything on the outside of these walls doesn’t matter.”
That grade also deserves context. The majority of that mark is devised only when Gonzalez is targeted, which creates a small sample size from the 2023 first-round pick’s 132 total coverage snaps.
From PFF’s coverage grade explainer: “The PFF grading system is target-driven at the coverage level, crediting or deducting from all players involved either at the catch point or after the catch. Players away from the catch point will receive grading adjustments based on down and distance and other situational expectations.”
A lot of Gonzalez’s value is in preventing top wide receivers from getting targeted, however.
To begin including more plays when cornerbacks aren’t covered, PFF developed an “advanced coverage grade,” which isn’t yet included in their premium stats. Gonzalez’s 53.2 coverage grade is only based on his traditional coverage grade.
Advanced coverage grade “uses machine learning to map the separation allowed on a play to the expected PFF coverage grade the player would have earned had they been targeted. This system also factors in the difficulty of the assignment and situation when making that assessment.”
PFF has only released advanced coverage grades through Week 2. Gonzalez ranked a much less surprising 46th out of 98 qualified cornerbacks.
Gonzalez was likely dinged in Week 3 for letting up a 2-yard touchdown from Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to wide receiver Garrett Wilson. With the Jets on the Patriots’ 2-yard line, Gonzalez knew he had to take a chance to get his hand on the ball.
“When you’re in the goal line, you gotta sell out,” Gonzalez said. “It’s either … incomplete or a touchdown. That’s what you want to do. You want to sell out. That’s all you can do. Even if he catches it, it’s different when you get into the red zone. If I did that in the field, I can’t do that in the field, because he could catch it and get upfield. In the red zone, sell out, if he catch it, touchdown, if I make the play, I make the play. That’s an unbelievable throw by Aaron. That’s why he is who he is. He made a good throw.”
Gonzalez isn’t completely content with his performance through three weeks. The soft-spoken cornerback said he’s just “doing alright” early in his second season.
“There are some plays that I left out there that I wish I could have made,” the 22-year-old said. “But it’s early in the season. There’s plays that I could have turned a PBU into a pick. It’ll come.”
Head coach Jerod Mayo also sees a player in the 6-foot-1, 205-pound defender who’s still on the ascent.
“A guy that continues to just keep fighting,” Mayo said. “He may not say a lot, but he has all the skills to be one of the top players in the league at his position. I think he still has room to grow and he’s going to be a very good player for us.”
Gonzalez earned a 79.3 coverage grade from PFF in four games last season before a torn labrum prematurely ended his rookie year. He allowed 16 catches on 24 targets for 157 yards and no touchdowns with an interception and two pass breakups in three-and-a-half games.
The Oregon product still has a litany of difficult matchups from now until Week 18 with the 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk next on the docket Sunday. Then he faces the Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle in Week 5 and the Texans’ Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins or Tank Dell in Week 6. Before the end of the season, he’ll go again Wilson again, plus Calvin Ridley or DeAndre Hopkins with the Titans, D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze or Keenan Allen with the Bears, the Rams’ Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua, Hill or Waddle again, the Colts’ Michael Pittman and the Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison Jr.
His goals?
“Growing week to week is what the game’s all about, just finding things about yourself and being able to progress every week and see who can get better faster,” Gonzalez said. “Little things like that and just keep going out there and having fun.”
