IMPACT: Oregon Lands Colorado Cornerback Transfer Christian Gonzalez
Dan Lanning said during his introductory press conference that the transfer portal wouldn't be the Ducks' primary mode of adding players this offseason, but he and his staff have definitely made good use of it in the past couple of weeks.
Oregon has now picked up three quality starters via the transfer portal, the latest being former Colorado cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who announced his commitment to the Ducks on Saturday.
READ MORE: Former Colorado CB Christian Gonzalez Commits to Oregon
Let's roll through some of the big storylines that come with the addition of Gonzalez. The elephant in the room is that the newest Duck will reunite with his position coach Demetrice Martin in Eugene. Martin and Gonzalez spent each of the past two seasons in Boulder, and two weeks later they're both headed up north to Oregon.
It may seem obvious that Martin was the catalyst to Gonzalez transferring to Oregon, not to mention that the cornerback position was an area of need for the Ducks with a lot of talented, yet unproven and inexperienced players set to take over next year.
Here's why it's huge that Gonzalez is joining his former position coach. Step into the shoes of a player like Avante Dickerson, Jaylin Davies, or Darren Barkins for a moment. You're entering your second season with a brand new coaching staff and position coach, and you're expected to take a leap into the two-deep rotation in a program that has been known to pump out NFL corners in the past couple of years.
Having an experienced veteran like Gonzalez who not only has been a starting cornerback in the Pac-12 for two years but also knows the new cornerbacks coach is crucial. Gonzalez can pass along Martin's tendencies and coaching style to the young corners and also share his experiences of defending the Pac-12's best receivers.
Gonzalez was a safety coming out of The Colony High School in Texas but has started at corner at Colorado. His 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame is already one of the biggest at the corner position on the Ducks' roster — he's a cornerback in a safety's body.
Now, let's break down the kind of player that the Ducks are getting in Gonzalez. He has blossomed into one of the Pac-12's most underrated defensive backs and has a multitude of talents, including open-field tackling (42 of his 53 tackles in 2021 were solo), blitzing into the backfield (5.5 tackles for loss in 2021), and batting away passes (10 pass breakups in two seasons).
Gonzalez is a sticky corner who won't give up much space, but he has great closeout speed if his man wins his route. He also excels defending against screens and draw plays, often darting from his assignment downfield to make the tackle in the middle.
His film from the Buffaloes' narrow loss to Texas A&M earlier this season is impressive. The Aggies' quarterbacks hardly look Gonzalez's way the entire game, even on short crossers. He was particularly effective on third downs, including in the third quarter in Colorado territory when quarterback Zach Calzada tried to find Chase Lane on a drag route, but Gonzalez gave the quarterback no window to find his receiver and batted the pass away from behind.
Replacing a player like Mykael Wright was not going to be easy, but one thing that Gonzalez does as well as Wright is reading plays close to the line of scrimmage. Several of his tackles for loss were on underneath screens that he sniffed out well before the play developed.
Colorado may have gotten blasted by Oregon in October at Autzen Stadium, allowing 52 points and 568 total yards, but it wasn't Gonzalez giving up those yards. He only registered three tackles in that game because Anthony Brown either didn't look his way or would look toward another receiver if he saw his man was covered by Gonzalez, often throwing to the opposite side of the field.
One of the only times that Brown threw toward Gonzalez was to Devon Williams, who was in double coverage down the field but snatched the pass out of the air with two defenders draped all over him for a highlight reel catch.
In his freshman season, he made a pair of touchdown-saving tackles, and in the Alamo Bowl against Texas he made a phenomenal diving pass deflection that was worthy of being on a SportsCenter Top 10 on any given night.
Gonzalez shoulder be a starter right away for the Ducks, and he'll have a chance to shine. He is a very underrated cover corner that may not fill up the stat sheet, but he'll make quarterbacks anxious and offensive coordinators plan around him.
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