They have spent a fortune adding veteran talent to their defense, but a holdover from last season has the best chance of being the first member of the New England Patriots named NFL Defensive Player of the Year since cornerback Stephon Gilmore in 2019.
He thrived as a man-coverage specialist who could play on an island and still take away an opponent’s best wide receiver. It took a while to find another like Gilmore, who joined the Carolina Panthers in 2021, but the 2023 NFL draft first-round pick Christian Gonzalez is a shutdown superstar in his own right.
Gonzalez is also good enough to “be considered a top cornerback and a sleeper DPOY candidate for 2025,” according to Pro Football Network’s Jacob Infante. He correctly rated last season’s second-team All-Pro as “one bright spot” for the 2024 Patriots, but Infante may be selling Gonzalez short as a mere “sleeper” for a league-wide award.
The 22-year-old is fully healthy and surrounded by more talent than he’s ever previously played alongside in the pros. Gonzalez will also benefit from a more attacking defensive scheme employed by new head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams.
More dynamic personnel and bolder X’s and O’s should generate greater pressure and lead to the kind of errant throws that can help Gonzalez add the one thing missing from his game.
Christian Gonzalez Lacking in Just One Area
If there’s a reason Gonzalez is still lacking wider recognition of his talents, it might be because he hasn’t gotten his hands on the ball often enough. The former Oregon standout has snatched a mere three interceptions and broken up 14 passes across 20 starts.
Those aren’t terrible numbers by any means, but defensive backs who win awards are usually more opportunistic. It will help for Gonzalez to stay healthy after a torn labrum cost him 13 games as a rookie, before a concussion ruled him out of last season’s finale against the Buffalo Bills.
Fortunately, Gonzalez has looked 100 percent and impressive during offseason activities, including with this one-handed interception.
Plays like this one can form a necessary first step toward the Patriots being able to use arguably their best defensive player in smarter, more effective ways.
Patriots Need Smarter Plan for Best Defensive Player
There’s a reason Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports believes Gonzalez’s “special combo of length and speed could make him the face of new head coach Mike Vrabel’s restocked defense.”
Vrabel is building a unit based on quicker athletes at every level. The new blueprint demands more active linemen up front, like a $104 million interior disruptor, as well as greater sideline-to-sideline range from linebackers, along with defensive backs who plaster receivers all over the field.
Gonzalez already fits the bill, and so does new arrival Carlton Davis III. The $60-million man thrived in man coverage for the Detroit Lions in 2024, but Davis has been slammed for anonymity this offseason.
Davis is trying to alter negative public perception of his start to life in New England, but the Pats need something more than a motivated veteran. Namely, a better plan for how they deploy Gonzalez.
The strategy needn’t be too complicated. All Vrabel needs to do is make Gonzalez the matchup equalizer against the best receivers each week. Shockingly, it’s not how Vrabel’s predecessor Jerod Mayo and his staff used Gonzalez last season.
It made little sense when Gonzalez established a knack for holding receivers to minimal production, surrendering only “25 or fewer receiving yards in 7 of his 13 games” by early December, per PFF NE Patriots.
Quarterbacks could avoid Gonzalez last season, but that won’t be easy with Davis on the other side in 2025. Extra passes coming his way, thrown under more intense pressure, should keep Gonzalez firmly in the DPOY conversation.
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