The place they have been ranked: The four-star cornerback was exterior the Rivals250, ranked No. 25 on the place and No. 37 within the Texas state rankings for the 2020 class. Elias Ricks, Kelee Ringo, Tony Grimes and Jaylon Jones have been the five-star cornerbacks that cycle.
Recruitment: Gonzalez had a bit little bit of a whirlwind recruitment. He dedicated to Purdue (he’s David Blough’s brother-in-law) regardless of the Boilermakers not making his high listing earlier on. They gained out over Ole Miss and Arizona State amongst others. However that pledge would solely final about three months. After Gonzalez visited Colorado for its sport in opposition to Stanford, he determined to flip to the Buffaloes. After taking part in in Boulder for 2 seasons and never having any interceptions, Gonzalez had 4 this previous season for the Geese.
Greatest query: There is no such thing as a query in any respect about Gonzalez’s dimension and pace however the questions NFL decision-makers have are about anticipation, angles and instincts to problem receivers when the ball is within the air.
Reminiscences: I by no means bumped into Gonzalez on the circuit and though he was at a Rivals Camp Collection occasion, I didn’t attend that one. However Rivals.com nationwide recruiting analyst Nick Harris noticed him beforehand and had loads of ideas about his sport.
Gonzalez was “most likely probably the most fluid DB I’ve ever seen,” Harris mentioned because the four-star confirmed off pure athletic potential and taking part in the place.
Gonzalez regarded like he belonged doing it. Generally, athletes need to play on the opposite aspect of the sphere however he was targeted on taking part in DB and excelled at it as he comes from a household of monitor stars.
His recruitment by no means reached the standing of nationwide powerhouses as a result of he didn’t play at an excellent program and didn’t get the publicity he so hard-earned. However he has excelled at Oregon and is now clearly within the top-10 dialogue of the NFL Draft.
On his movie from Oregon, Gonzalez is as pure as they arrive, turns and runs with receivers with ease, lives on an island and does an excellent job urgent receivers to the sideline to present them little room to function. His size and athleticism make it robust for receivers to win in opposition to him when the ball is within the air. He can come up and hit, and likewise change path shortly to make a play on the ball.
I ponder with extra publicity on the nationwide stage in highschool, would Gonzalez have been a lot increased within the place rankings. He’s much more fluid and has extra size than many corners ranked forward of him.