2022 Football Roster
Jersey Number 0
Christian Gonzalez
- Position:
- Defensive Back
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 201
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- The Colony, Texas
- High School:
- The Colony
- Prev School:
- Colorado
Bio
2023 NFL Draft
The No. 17 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots ... Oregon's fourth consecutive first-round pick, ninth defensive first-round pick, and 21st overall first-round pick ... The first Oregon defensive back to be drafted in the first round since Alex Molden in 1996, and the fourth all-time ... The first Pac-12 player taken in the 2023 NFL Draft ... Fourth Duck ever to be drafted by the Patriots, and first since Patrick Chung in 2009.
As A Sophomore (2022)
» Coaches Pac-12 All-Conference first team
» Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team
» Associated Press All-Pac-12 second team
» Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 second team
» Phil Steele All-America fourth team
» Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week (Week 10)
Started Oregon’s first 12 games before opting out of the Holiday Bowl and declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft … Led the Ducks with four interceptions, third-most in the Pac-12, and finished with 50 total tackles (35 solo) and one tackle for loss … Totaled 118 return yards on four interceptions, the most by a Duck in a season since 2001 (Steve Smith) … Tied for sixth in the Pac-12 with 11 passes defended and tied for ninth with seven passes broken up … Earned an 81.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, best among all Duck defenders and No. 4 among Pac-12 cornerbacks … 81.4 coverage grade from PFF also ranked fourth among Pac-12 corners … vs. Eastern Washington (Sept. 10): Recorded first career interception in the second quarter, returning it 11 yards … vs. No. 12 BYU (Sept. 17): Broke up a pair of passes and made two tackles in Oregon’s top-15 win … vs. Stanford (Oct. 1): Finished with three solo tackles and two pass breakups … vs. No. 9 UCLA (Oct. 22): Made five solo tackles, recorded his first TFL as a Duck and broke up two passes in a top-10 win at Autzen Stadium .. at California (Oct. 29): Set a then-career-high with eight tackles (six solo) and blocked a field goal … First Duck to block a field goal in a game since 2017 (Jalen Jelks) … One of eight Pac-12 players to block a field goal in 2022 … at Colorado (Nov. 5): Named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after hauling in two interceptions against his former school … First career multi-interception game … Totaled 77 return yards on the two interceptions, running the first one back 36 yards for a near-pick six and the second one 41 yards … Interceptions came on back-to-back drives in the third quarter … vs. Washington (Nov. 12): First career double-digit tackle performance with a career-high 10 tackles, including a career-high seven solo takedowns … at Oregon State (Nov. 26): Finished with five tackles and pulled in interception No. 4 on the season, running it back 30 yards.
As A Freshman at Colorado (2021)
» Coaches Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention
Started all 12 games at cornerback … Finished fifth on the team and first among defensive backs with 53 tackles (42 solo) … Led the team with five pass breakups while ending the year third with 5.5 tackles for loss … One of five players in the Pac-12 and one of only three defensive backs with at least five PBUs and five TFLs … Played 811 total snaps – the sixth-most among Pac-12 corners … Made at least three tackles in 10 of the 12 games … vs. Texas A&M (Sept. 11): Recorded six tackles and two TFLs helping hold the Aggies to 191 yards passing and 288 yards of total offense in a 10-7 loss … at Arizona State (Sept. 25): Made a career-high seven tackles (five solo) while adding a TFL … vs. Arizona (Oct. 16): Finished with six solo stops while recording one tackle for loss to help the Buffaloes to their first shutout since 2015 and first-ever shutout of a Pac-12 opponent … at California (Oct. 23): Broke up a pair of passes while recording a TFL and four total tackles … Highest-graded Pac-12 cornerback that week by Pro Football Focus both overall defensively and in coverage … vs. Oregon State (Nov. 6): Came away with two PBUs while adding a pair of tackles in a 37-34 win … at UCLA (Nov. 13): Matched a career-high with seven tackles (five solo) while adding a PBU.
As A Freshman at Colorado (2020)
Started all six games at cornerback … Only freshman on defense to play and start all six games … Sixth on the team with 25 tackles, including 23 solo stops, which were tied for third on the team … Second on the team with five pass breakups … vs. UCLA (Nov. 7): Recorded five tackles in collegiate debut, helping CU to a 48-42 win … at Stanford (Nov. 14): Finished with five tackles, all solo, while breaking up a pass in a 35-32 win … at Arizona (Dec. 5): Made three solo stops to go along with a PBU in a win … vs. Texas (Dec. 29): Matched a season-high with five tackles, all solo, while breaking up a career-high three passes.
High School
A four-star prospect ranked as one of the top 50 players from Texas by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN … Named to the All-Midlands Regional team by PrepStar … 247Sports gave him a rating of 90 as the No. 307 player nationally, No. 28 safety and No. 42 player from Texas … Rivals rated him at 5.8 and the No. 26 defensive back in the class and No. 33 player from Texas … ESPN gave him a scout grade of 80 as the No. 62 player in the region, No. 19 safety in the class and No. 48 player from Texas … Played defensive back and wide receiver for The Colony and coach Rudy Rangel for two seasons, compiling a 17-5 record, including a 12-2 mark in the Division 5A-1 Standings … On defense in his career, he had 46 tackles, 17 pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries … On offense, he tallied 65 receptions for 956 yards and 12 touchdowns, ran seven times for 187 yards and two touchdowns and racked up 1,394 all-purpose yards and 18 total touchdowns … Named first-team All-District 5-5A as a senior, making 17 tackles on defense with eight pass breakups, two interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery … 43 receptions for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns, four rushes for 89 yards and one touchdown and he returned a kick 75 yards for a score, giving him 13 total touchdowns … As a junior, was named first-team All-District 5-5A defense, helping the team to a 9-2 record with 29 tackles, nine pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery … 22 receptions for 306 yards with two touchdowns, three carries for 98 yards and another touchdown … Scored five touchdowns and had 580 all-purpose yards with two kick returns for 161 yards … Also ran track & field in high school and had a personal best of 21.6 seconds in the 200-meters in the Texas State Championships.
Personal
Parents are Hector and Temple Gonzalez … Father played college basketball at UTEP and went on to play semiprofessional basketball in Columbia … Has two older sisters, Melissa and Samantha, and one younger sister, Lily … Both older sisters, Melissa (Texas) and Samantha (Miami, Fla.), ran track and field in college and were both all-Americans in the 400 hurdles and the 4x400 relay.
The No. 17 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots ... Oregon's fourth consecutive first-round pick, ninth defensive first-round pick, and 21st overall first-round pick ... The first Oregon defensive back to be drafted in the first round since Alex Molden in 1996, and the fourth all-time ... The first Pac-12 player taken in the 2023 NFL Draft ... Fourth Duck ever to be drafted by the Patriots, and first since Patrick Chung in 2009.
As A Sophomore (2022)
» Coaches Pac-12 All-Conference first team
» Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team
» Associated Press All-Pac-12 second team
» Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 second team
» Phil Steele All-America fourth team
» Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week (Week 10)
Started Oregon’s first 12 games before opting out of the Holiday Bowl and declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft … Led the Ducks with four interceptions, third-most in the Pac-12, and finished with 50 total tackles (35 solo) and one tackle for loss … Totaled 118 return yards on four interceptions, the most by a Duck in a season since 2001 (Steve Smith) … Tied for sixth in the Pac-12 with 11 passes defended and tied for ninth with seven passes broken up … Earned an 81.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, best among all Duck defenders and No. 4 among Pac-12 cornerbacks … 81.4 coverage grade from PFF also ranked fourth among Pac-12 corners … vs. Eastern Washington (Sept. 10): Recorded first career interception in the second quarter, returning it 11 yards … vs. No. 12 BYU (Sept. 17): Broke up a pair of passes and made two tackles in Oregon’s top-15 win … vs. Stanford (Oct. 1): Finished with three solo tackles and two pass breakups … vs. No. 9 UCLA (Oct. 22): Made five solo tackles, recorded his first TFL as a Duck and broke up two passes in a top-10 win at Autzen Stadium .. at California (Oct. 29): Set a then-career-high with eight tackles (six solo) and blocked a field goal … First Duck to block a field goal in a game since 2017 (Jalen Jelks) … One of eight Pac-12 players to block a field goal in 2022 … at Colorado (Nov. 5): Named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after hauling in two interceptions against his former school … First career multi-interception game … Totaled 77 return yards on the two interceptions, running the first one back 36 yards for a near-pick six and the second one 41 yards … Interceptions came on back-to-back drives in the third quarter … vs. Washington (Nov. 12): First career double-digit tackle performance with a career-high 10 tackles, including a career-high seven solo takedowns … at Oregon State (Nov. 26): Finished with five tackles and pulled in interception No. 4 on the season, running it back 30 yards.
As A Freshman at Colorado (2021)
» Coaches Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention
Started all 12 games at cornerback … Finished fifth on the team and first among defensive backs with 53 tackles (42 solo) … Led the team with five pass breakups while ending the year third with 5.5 tackles for loss … One of five players in the Pac-12 and one of only three defensive backs with at least five PBUs and five TFLs … Played 811 total snaps – the sixth-most among Pac-12 corners … Made at least three tackles in 10 of the 12 games … vs. Texas A&M (Sept. 11): Recorded six tackles and two TFLs helping hold the Aggies to 191 yards passing and 288 yards of total offense in a 10-7 loss … at Arizona State (Sept. 25): Made a career-high seven tackles (five solo) while adding a TFL … vs. Arizona (Oct. 16): Finished with six solo stops while recording one tackle for loss to help the Buffaloes to their first shutout since 2015 and first-ever shutout of a Pac-12 opponent … at California (Oct. 23): Broke up a pair of passes while recording a TFL and four total tackles … Highest-graded Pac-12 cornerback that week by Pro Football Focus both overall defensively and in coverage … vs. Oregon State (Nov. 6): Came away with two PBUs while adding a pair of tackles in a 37-34 win … at UCLA (Nov. 13): Matched a career-high with seven tackles (five solo) while adding a PBU.
As A Freshman at Colorado (2020)
Started all six games at cornerback … Only freshman on defense to play and start all six games … Sixth on the team with 25 tackles, including 23 solo stops, which were tied for third on the team … Second on the team with five pass breakups … vs. UCLA (Nov. 7): Recorded five tackles in collegiate debut, helping CU to a 48-42 win … at Stanford (Nov. 14): Finished with five tackles, all solo, while breaking up a pass in a 35-32 win … at Arizona (Dec. 5): Made three solo stops to go along with a PBU in a win … vs. Texas (Dec. 29): Matched a season-high with five tackles, all solo, while breaking up a career-high three passes.
High School
A four-star prospect ranked as one of the top 50 players from Texas by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN … Named to the All-Midlands Regional team by PrepStar … 247Sports gave him a rating of 90 as the No. 307 player nationally, No. 28 safety and No. 42 player from Texas … Rivals rated him at 5.8 and the No. 26 defensive back in the class and No. 33 player from Texas … ESPN gave him a scout grade of 80 as the No. 62 player in the region, No. 19 safety in the class and No. 48 player from Texas … Played defensive back and wide receiver for The Colony and coach Rudy Rangel for two seasons, compiling a 17-5 record, including a 12-2 mark in the Division 5A-1 Standings … On defense in his career, he had 46 tackles, 17 pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries … On offense, he tallied 65 receptions for 956 yards and 12 touchdowns, ran seven times for 187 yards and two touchdowns and racked up 1,394 all-purpose yards and 18 total touchdowns … Named first-team All-District 5-5A as a senior, making 17 tackles on defense with eight pass breakups, two interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery … 43 receptions for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns, four rushes for 89 yards and one touchdown and he returned a kick 75 yards for a score, giving him 13 total touchdowns … As a junior, was named first-team All-District 5-5A defense, helping the team to a 9-2 record with 29 tackles, nine pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery … 22 receptions for 306 yards with two touchdowns, three carries for 98 yards and another touchdown … Scored five touchdowns and had 580 all-purpose yards with two kick returns for 161 yards … Also ran track & field in high school and had a personal best of 21.6 seconds in the 200-meters in the Texas State Championships.
Personal
Parents are Hector and Temple Gonzalez … Father played college basketball at UTEP and went on to play semiprofessional basketball in Columbia … Has two older sisters, Melissa and Samantha, and one younger sister, Lily … Both older sisters, Melissa (Texas) and Samantha (Miami, Fla.), ran track and field in college and were both all-Americans in the 400 hurdles and the 4x400 relay.
