Christian Gonzalez Earmarked For Perimeter Corner Role
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick says you never regret drafting good football players, and New England won’t with Christian Gonzalez.
The rookie cornerback may be pressed into action sooner than anticipated due to the arrest of second-year corner Jack Jones.Â
Belichick says Christian Gonzalez is likely to feature as a perimeter corner but can fill a number of other roles. He also says Christian Gonzelez was targeted for his quality rather than for who he is specifically.
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“When we go into the draft, we don’t really target one guy,” Belichick said.Â
“Especially when you’re drafting at whatever point. Need isn’t as big of a criteria as good football players. I learned that at the Giants in [1984] when we took Carl Banks. We had (Lawrence) Taylor, obviously, and it was kind of like, ‘Why are we taking another outside linebacker?’ As it turned out, that was probably one of the better picks that we had at the Giants
“I don’t think it’s about where you need a player. If you’ve got a good football player, nobody’s ever gonna regret that. I’m glad Gonzo was there. I think when you just go and look for one guy and then he’s not there, there’s other players in the draft that can help us, as well. But he’s been great to work with, and I look forward to getting him ready to go for training camp.”
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“We’ll work him at a number of positions, again, like we do almost all players at this point in time in the spring, and then narrow it down a little bit when we get to training camp,” Belichick said.
“Ultimately, he’s most likely going to be a perimeter corner, but I think there are other situations where he could play inside or could play in a deeper part of the field, depending on what the call is or how things present themselves from a game-plan structure from time to time.”
