The Draft Network recently came out with their Mock Draft 5.0, and they had the Falcons bolstering their secondary by adding Christian Gonzalez, a cornerback out of Oregon.
8. Atlanta Falcons
Christian Gonzalez
CB, Oregon
The Falcons have a few needs to address on the defensive side of the ball. Luckily their needs are strengths of the draft class. A.J. Terrell is one of the best young cover corners in football. Atlanta needs to find a CB2 to put across from him. Christian Gonzalez is the best pure cover corner in this class as a top-tier athlete with fluid movement skills and ball production to match. Gonzalez and Terrell have lock-down potential.
Admittedly, I haven’t watched a ton of Gonzalez on tape yet, but the consensus is that he’s the best in the class at locking down one side of the field. The Falcons have no shortage of needs, and a CB2 is one of them. Casey Hayward could be back, but in today’s NFL, teams really need at least four quality corners to be successful, especially when you feature a pass rush as weak as the Falcons.
Adding Gonzalez to the secondary would have a ripple effect on the entire defense. With him and Terrell locking down the outside, the defensive line would have a little extra time to get after the quarterback. A lot of fans are begging for the Falcons to bolster the pass rushing unit during the draft. I’m all for it, but it won’t really matter if the secondary isn’t upgraded as well. Both units must be improved if the Falcons ever want to get out of the cellar defensively.
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Photo: Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire
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