Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Legit: Christian Gonzalez Earns Elite Status, Shutdown Talent Recognized

Starting point is 00:00:00 The word elite should not be thrown around, but the latest from the NFL confirms one thing. Christian Gonzalez is elite. This is Locked on Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host of Nick Cattels on today's show. The offense is no doubt more talented, but the shelf-loss

Starting point is 00:00:35 needs help from the last two draft classes. In the second segment, the offense should not only be more explosive this season, but in different ways. But first, Christian Gonzalez gets his flowers. We have sung Christian Gonzalez's praises on this podcast for the last year plus. I have said over and over and over again that I believe Christian Gonzalez is one of the best corners in football. Now, some might disagree with that.

Starting point is 00:01:02 And I'm sure a couple within the Boston media disagree with that. That's fine. We can agree to disagree. But in this conversation, the NFL agrees with me. The NFL clearly respects Christian Gonzalez as one of the best corners in football. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, he's releasing his position by position rankings, top 10 lists, whatever you want to call it. And in these stories, each and every one,

Starting point is 00:01:32 Jeremy Fowler speaks to NFL executives, coaches, and scouts. And we mentioned this on yesterday's podcast, talking about Ramadre Stevenson and Trevionn Henderson. Well, when we talk about cornerbacks, Jeremy Fowler's latest cornerback rankings, top 10 list, according to NFL executives, coaches and scouts, Christian Gonzalez is third on the list. his highest ranking of those ranking the players had him as the second guy. The lowest ranking had him 10th. And I would like to have a conversation with that person who ranked Christian Gonzalez as the 10th best cornerback in football. If you were wondering, Christian Gonzalez was part of the top 10 before the 2025 season.

Starting point is 00:02:22 Last year, Gonzalez was ranked 6th. So he's gone from sixth best cornerback to third best cornerback in football, according to these executives, coaches, and scouts who spoke with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Here's a blurb from Fowler. Few cover corners look more graceful stride for stride with receivers than Gonzalez, who uses his six foot one frame in speed to his advantage. This is what one NFL offensive coach said to Jeremy Fowler, quote, he shut everything down when we played him we couldn't squeeze a drop he was the main reason why size

Starting point is 00:03:02 ball skills press or man he's got it all top three is elite again i don't like throwing the word elite around it started to be a game with eli manning and joe flacco years ago and all of a sudden there were a bunch of people being called elite i just don't agree with that when i say somebody is truly elite at their position, I'm talking top three, top four. Now, of course, it also depends on the position. If you're a top five or six quarterback, you could make an argument as long as you're consistently a top five or six guy that you should be considered an elite quarterback. But my point is, it is an exclusive club. You can't have 10 elite cornerbacks. You can't have 10 elite quarterbacks. You just can't. You can't have 10 to 12.

Starting point is 00:03:54 elite pass rushers. Elite is truly the best of the best. And when you are in the top three at any position in the NFL, even long snapper, you are elite at that position. So what Jeremy Fowler's latest ranking of the cornerback position tells us that Christian Gonzalez is an elite corner in the NFL. It's not me saying it. It's not you saying it. It's not anybody else in the New England media saying it. It is the voice of the NFL. And it is tough. It is tough to find an elite player at any position. Again, if you hold it in that high of a regard like I do,

Starting point is 00:04:35 if you're going to lump a bunch of dudes in and say they're elite, then it's not tough to find elite at really any position. But if you do hold it in such high regard, it is incredibly difficult to find somebody who is categorized as elite at what they do. it's even tougher to find a truly elite player at a premier position. Cornerback is a premier position. And that's why my joke a few minutes ago about the elite long snapper, you would much rather have an elite corner than an elite long snapper.

Starting point is 00:05:11 As part of this context, Jeremy Fowler wrote on Twitter, voting for spots four through seven was very tight. And he's talking about, you know, Devin Witherspoon, Trent McDuffie, Quinn Jan Mitchell, Denzel Ward. So according to Jeremy Fowler, who knows the voting results from the executives, coaches, and scouts, according to Fowler, spots four through seven were very tight. What wasn't very tight was spots three through seven.

Starting point is 00:05:51 So deductive reasoning would tell us the top three were pretty well entrenched as the top three. And of course, Gondalas was a top three guy. So the post from Jeremy Fowler would indicate Christian Gonzalez is not only considered a top three corner in football. He is easily considered a top three corner in football. And this goes back also. So that comment, that comment from the NFL offensive coach in this story about how Christian Gonzalez shut everything down, they couldn't squeeze a drop, he was the main reason why he's got it all. Gonzalez's ability single-handedly helps change your defensive looks if you want to change your defensive looks. Fowler mentioned in his work here that Gonzalez was especially dominant in the playoffs when he was.

Starting point is 00:06:53 He allowed 14 completions on 36 targets. His 38.8% completion percentage allowed was the lowest by any player to face 25 or more targets in a postseason since at least 2018. That is per NFL next gen stats. So not only was Christian Gonzalez helping change your approach and allowing you to be much more aggressive in allowing that approach to be in a more effective approach. but he was also doing that in the biggest games of the year. His ability to cover allowed you to get much more aggressive,

Starting point is 00:07:32 which allowed your defense to play much better in the biggest games. I would also mention that Gonzalez didn't just, quote, unquote, turn it on late. As Fowler writes, Gonzalez's nine-past breakups and 416 regular season coverage snaps equated to a 2.2% past breakup rate, one of the best clips among corners. Pay the man. Pay the man. He's an elite talent.

Starting point is 00:08:02 He's an elite talent that you drafted. He's an elite talent that you drafted and helped develop. And his impact, unquestionably, is significant for this football team. Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports wrote that with Christian Gonzalez out, the Patriots defense allowed an 18.3.3. explosive pass rate, which would have been the highest rate in the NFL if extrapolated for a whole season. And Tice writes, yeah, yeah, sample size opponent, but 125 dropbacks isn't nothing. And the Gonzalez-less defense had an EPA per pass allow out of 10, which was the second most in the

Starting point is 00:08:42 NFL. One more to drive at home, the 7.8 net yards per attempt the Patriots allowed when Gonzalez was off the field would have been tied with the Cowboys defense for highest in the NFL. Yes, it's a small sample size. Yes, you can question the opponents. Yes, it was a new system that the Patriots were learning. Yes, it was the beginning of the season with that new system. But Christian Gonzalez's impact on this defense and this team is in arguable. And I do wonder, with something like this coming,

Starting point is 00:09:21 out telling us that the NFL feels like Christian Gonzalez is elite. I do wonder if that makes Gonzalez's representation less likely to be willing to take a quote unquote middle ground agreement with the Patriots that we discussed a week or so ago on this very podcast. If I'm Christian Gonzalez and I'm looking at this from Jeremy Fowler, I'm saying the NFL, it's not just me. I'm not walking into this negotiation saying I'm the elite cornerback and it's all in my head.

Starting point is 00:09:50 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The NFL believes that I am an elite cornerback. In cornerback is a premier position. Elite at premier position equals money. Pay the man. Coming up, the offense is set up to be the most explosive we've seen in almost a decade. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:10:20 This episode is sponsored by Better. help. Summer is supposed to be the season everyone looks forward to. Vacations, longer days, more time outside, more plans with family and friends. But for a lot of people, summer can also feel surprisingly overwhelming. Schedules get packed. Routines change. And sometimes it feels like you're trying to do everything at once instead of enjoying the season. That's why it's important to make time for yourself too. And therapy can help you create a version of summer that feels manageable and enjoyable. You know, it's easy to say yes to everything under the sun and forget to slow down for yourself. With over 30,000 therapists and more than 6 million people served worldwide, BetterHelp

Starting point is 00:11:00 makes it easy to get matched with a licensed therapist based on your needs and preferences. And if the match doesn't feel right, you could switch anytime. You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support and therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash lockdown. That's better. H-E-L-P.com. slash locked on. Thankfully, hallelujah. Gone are the anemic offenses of the past. The Pats' offensive numbers last year were some of the best in football.

Starting point is 00:11:33 But this year, they are set up to be even more devastating. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Don't forget, if you're watching us on YouTube to like, comment, and subscribe. All three of those things help us, especially the likes and the comments with the YouTube algorithm. like, comment, subscribe. We appreciate every single one of you. Year in and year out. We get the explosives conversation from all NFL corners, all NFL walks of life. Explosives this, explosives that. If you've heard Mike Vrable give any kind of interview,

Starting point is 00:12:09 he will talk about explosives. And as the years go on, explosives become more and more important to the game of football. And you'll see a lot of two-shell defense. and the emphasis on two-shell, which opens the door to you to run to football. And we saw Seattle really run their way to a title last year. And unfortunately, we had to witness it ourselves during that Super Bowl with Kenneth Walker and what he did to the Patriots defense, trying to force defenses into those two-shell looks. Defenses are trying to play more two-shell to take away the explosive plays, to take away the downfield plays.

Starting point is 00:12:50 And so if you can hit a few explosives, it is critical to the operation. And we talked about this a week or two ago that Warren Sharp, he actually posted that the Patriots were the most explosive offense last year in the entire NFL. Now, when talking about that specific number from Warren Sharp, we want to underline that the details were the rate of gaining 15 plus yards per play. So that's what Warren Sharp was looking at as far as explosive offense. It's not yards per game, you know, points per game, whatever. He was looking at the rate of gaining 15 plus yards offensively per play.

Starting point is 00:13:35 And Drake May's legs really helped, which is why we wondered if in 2026 may is going to run more. But if you look at it, I want to crystallize that opinion for a second. here because when you think about the Patriots explosive offense in 2025, you've got to think about Drake May. You've got to think about his running ability using his legs and how to attack defenses. I talked about Drake May's 10 plus yard runs in 2025 and how he stacked up to the rest of the NFL and how he stacked up to other quarterbacks. Well, I want to give you a little bit more information on that. NFL researcher on Twitter posted the highest. The highest, percentage of rushes for 10 plus yards in 2025.

Starting point is 00:14:25 So the highest percentage of the rushes you had for 10 plus yards. Devon A. Chan was first in the NFL. 16.8% of his rushes were for 10 plus yards. Second was Blake Coram at 15.9%. Third was Josh Allen at 15.2%. Kenneth Walker, the third, was fourth at 14.9%. And who was sitting there at fifth? You guessed it. Drake May at 14.6%. So when you looked at every single person in the NFL that ran the football, the highest

Starting point is 00:15:07 percentage of those rushes, of those carries that were 10 plus yards in 2025, Drake May had the fifth highest percentage behind A-chan, quarts. Warren, Allen, and Walker, the third. So that really adds context. But here's the scary thought. The Patriots should be even more explosive in 2026. You added A.J. Brown. You think about A.J. Brown's ability to make plays when under duress, those contested

Starting point is 00:15:44 catches. Those will result in some big plays. You talk about a player who can attack the middle of the field, take advantage of that space that should result in explosive plays. And yes, A.J. Brown's yards after catch are declining. No debate about that. We covered it when the Patriots acquired A.J. Brown in early June. There's no doubt his yards after the catch are declining, but he still has the ability to make plays. And Drake May said it during mandatory minicamp. Here's a quote, just knowing that a slant, a quickout, something that you can just give him the ball and he can go and break some tackles and he's tough to tackle and guys don't want to

Starting point is 00:16:27 tackle him. He can catch a slant and take it the distance. That's kind of more of my mindset to be on time, make good throws, and let him run with it. So even Drake May is telling us, yeah, A.J. Brown might not be the same cat that he was three, four years ago. But the A.J. Brown that we're going to witness this year is still good enough. to make plays after the catch.

Starting point is 00:16:54 So A.J. Brown, explosivity added to the offense. You've got Romeo Dobbs, Matt Collins, who are both capable of making big plays. You've got Kyle Williams, hopefully taking that next step. But we saw Kyle Williams about a handful of times making an explosive play. We all remember, you know, the touchdown against Tampa, for example. Crossing route, middle of the field. Next thing you know, he's taking it to the house. Pop Douglas, we've had these conversations about Mike Vrabel and Drake May wanting to utilize

Starting point is 00:17:29 Pop Douglas more in this offense. Pop Douglas has juice. He should help with the explosivity if you give him more touches, if you give him different touches, i.e. as a gadget player, maybe more stuff at the line of scrimmage or behind the line of scrimmage thrown in for Pop Douglas. And when we talk about explosives, we're not just talking about throwing the ball. Again, yes, Drake May, chucking it 40 yards downfield is an obvious explosive play. But running the ball for 10 plus yards, 15 yards, 20 yards, that's an explosive play.

Starting point is 00:18:08 And the Patriots run game should be more improved. And if the run game is better, that would open the door to more explosive plays in said run game. it won't be the occasional travion Henderson takes it to the house he pops a big run and that's it then you get a bunch of three yards in a cloud of dust after that and before that you should have more consistency when it comes to popping a 15 yard run a 20 yard run and if you do have a better run game and you have more explosives as part of that run game that opens the door to an improved play action game. And now that play action game is married with your run game and you're getting explosives out of both. And that play action game is opening the seam for tight ends and slot receivers. That play action is opening the door to take shots down field.

Starting point is 00:19:13 It's how all of this works. It's all connected. In the expected improvement of the offensive line, I don't know, should give you more time to develop downfield plays. Drake May shouldn't be in as much of a rush to get rid of the football. You should have confidence that this offensive line will hold up better than it did last year. Not to say it was bad last year.

Starting point is 00:19:38 It wasn't. In some spots, obviously the super bullet, the offensive line was pretty good last year. And if we expect the offensive line to take a step forward in 2026, then you, you can trust that offensive line to hold their water just a little bit longer, which will allow more downfield throws from Drake May because, of course, those types of plays take time to develop. Up next, the last two draft classes and how the Patriots need them to hit to sustain offensive success. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. right now is exciting.

Starting point is 00:20:33 AJ Brown, Romeo Dobbs, improved offensive line, expecting more explosive plays like we talked about last segment. But if the paths want this to last and if they want to continue to support their quarterback, it is still all about the last two draft classes. It's not as much about Romeo Dobbs. It's not as much about AJ Brown. If we want this to sustain, if we want an offense that here, in and year out is quote unquote dangerous. The last two draft classes by this regime is what

Starting point is 00:21:07 matters most for that sustainability. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network. Of course, we are now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Don't forget to help a brother out. Continue to build this community. Like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube. Unequivocal. It's unequivocal that the Patriots offensive roster is as good as it's been in years. You could go back to 2018 and have that conversation. But the last two drafts will tell us whether this is a short-term window and short-term excitement or a long-term run. Quarterback is the quarterback, folks. Drake May is Drake May, thankfully. He should be a fantastic piece at the most important position for the next 10-plus years.

Starting point is 00:21:55 So this is not about Drake May. This is particularly looking at everyone else. AJ Brown, super excited to see him play. Expect him to have a really good season. But he's also 29. Mack Hollins, really good year last year. Expect him to fulfill his role as good as he possibly can this upcoming season. But Mac Hollins is 33.

Starting point is 00:22:25 So when you look at wide receiver, especially if Kishan Bouti is sent packing like many of us expect him to be, the question is can Kyle Williams prove himself to be a two or at worst a three? Can he prove himself over the next 18 months to two years? Because that will go a long way to solving the long-term wide receiver questions. if Kyle Williams takes a step forward this year and you start gaining confidence that he could be at least a number two guy, well, now your future is not as blurry because you'll still have to land a number one eventually to replace A.J. Brown two or three years down the road, but at least you don't have to fill two holes. At least you would look at it and say, all right, Romeo Dobbs still 26. He might have four or five good years left. Kyle Williams took that step. He's part of the future. So now we're going to be.

Starting point is 00:23:22 feel pretty confident that we have at least a two and three receiver. And when A.J. Brown ages out, we've got to find a way to replenish that alpha position, but that is much easier to do, theoretically, than finding that alpha and somebody who could replace what you hoped Kyle Williams was. So the Kyle Williams pick to me, that's crucial. For the future, for the sustained success as a wide receiver room, You need Kyle Williams to hit. You invested a third round pick in him. Then you look at the backfield. Ramandre Stevenson talked about him yesterday.

Starting point is 00:23:59 Talked about him yesterday's podcast. I think he's a good back. I think he has the capability of being a very good back. If you can stay healthy and take care of the football. But Ramandre Stevenson is 28 years old. Which brings us to Trayvion Henderson. Can Trayvion Henderson take that next step over the next 18 months? to two years and prove that he can be a true bona fide number one running back, a guy that you can

Starting point is 00:24:26 depend on all three downs, somebody who's not only going to be able to run with the football, but protect your quarterback and make a significant impact in the passing game like we all think Trayvion Henderson could do. But will Trayvion Henderson prove that on the field? Will he get better in the categories that we've discussed? If he does, he eventually replaces Ramandre Stevenson, and then you're looking for your number two guy. And maybe that number two guy is already in-house. Maybe it's a Jam Miller. Maybe it's a Miles Montgomery.

Starting point is 00:25:00 Maybe it's a Lan Larison. Maybe it's a Terrell Jennings. But if Henderson proves himself worthy, then you know you've got at least your top back of the future. You've got somebody who could be your number one guy for the next five, six years as long as he stays healthy. and then you can honorably slide Ramadre Stevenson to the second back, and then as he ages out, you can bring somebody else in.

Starting point is 00:25:28 It allows you to breathe a little bit. Tight end. We all love Hunter Henry. Hunter Henry is Captain Dependable. Drake May loves Hunter Henry. I have zero point zero complaints about Hunter Henry, but Hunter Henry is 31 years old. Julian Hill, who is supposed to be your second tight end,

Starting point is 00:25:49 will be returning next year from a significant injury. We're not even sure what that injury is. We just know it's significant. And Mike Vrable said something along the lines of devastating. So we don't even know what that is, which leads us to Eli Raarden. Is there any chance that Eli Raarden is able to accelerate his development and becomes a number one tight end by next year.

Starting point is 00:26:19 That would help an awful lot, wouldn't it? Because if Eli Raarden can't accelerate that development, if by the end of 2026, we don't know if Eli Raiders is going to be able to step in, now you've got a 32-year-old Hunter Henry, who knows what's going on with Julian Hill, and who knows what else you have at tight end? C.J. Dupree, Tanner Arkin,

Starting point is 00:26:44 did any of those guys show any type of potential? So Eli Raarden being a hit would be a tremendous success for this front office and vitally important to the offensive operation moving forward. You don't want to go into next off season trying to find like three tight ends. And then we get to the offensive line. The big boys up front protecting your franchise. Over the next 12 months to 18 months, does Will Campbell solidify his spot at left tackle? Can Jared Wilson hold down center like I think he can? Will he prove that on the field?

Starting point is 00:27:27 A Lobloom will he grow? Will he develop? So as towards the end of 2026, you feel like he's no doubt, worst case scenario, you're starting right tackle for the next several years. Hitting on the last two drafts is just so huge for the long-term sustainability of this offense and making sure that Drake May is all set, because as much as we are excited about this offense in 2026,

Starting point is 00:27:54 we have to realize and appreciate that there are three or four dudes in this offense that are older. And you're going to need answers to those problems within the next couple of years. And for a guy like Morgan Moses, you've got to figure it out by next year, which also reminds me and should remind all of us that the fact that Patriots waited until 28 to deal that first round pick for AJ Brown, that means a lot here in this conversation because you'll see what these guys do this season. And if you feel like they're not taking those steps, you have a draft class that we all

Starting point is 00:28:40 expect to be awesome in 2027. You have your full allotment of picks. in the 2027 draft. So if Kyle Williams doesn't take that step, you can go back into the draft next year, again, loaded, and take another swing at that position for the long-term sustainability at wide receiver. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots.

Starting point is 00:29:07 Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C-Radio. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube, help brother out. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen. For your second listen, check out. Lockdown NFL scouting. Kyle Crabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great weekend. We'll see you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Legit: Christian Gonzalez Earns Elite Status, Shutdown Talent Recognized

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.