ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has been releasing top-10 positional rankings voted on by a panel of 70 NFL executives, coaches, and scouts. On Thursday, Fowler released the top-10 cornerback rankings, and Pittsburgh Steelers fans got another painful reminder of what they could have had in the draft instead of Broderick Jones.
The Steelers held the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and had pressing needs at both offensive tackle and cornerback. Instead of standing pat and taking Oregon standout Christian Gonzalez, Omar Khan traded up in his first NFL Draft as general manager to get Jones, the offensive tackle out of Georgia.
In ESPN's latest cornerback rankings, execs, coaches, and scouts listed the 23-year-old Gonzalez as the sixth-best cornerback in the NFL, ahead of players like Jaycee Horn, Jaylon Johnson, Quinyon Mitchell, and Devon Witherspoon.
"I think Gonzo is the next great one," a veteran NFL assistant said of Gonzalez. "Skills, patience, length. He's the closest thing to Pat [Surtain II]. Smooth, big athlete, travels a lot, can matchup against the best guy."
That's quite the compliment for a cornerback who has played 20 games in the National Football League. Now, Steelers fans are once again faced with major past draft regret.
The Pittsburgh Steelers should have taken Christian Gonzalez instead of Broderick Jones in the 2023 NFL Draft
The Pittsburgh Steelers ignored BPA (the 'best player available' approach) in the 2023 NFL Draft to take the bigger positional need. Broderick Jones was the 16th overall player on Marcus Mosher's NFL Draft Expert Consensus Board, but they traded up to pick 14 to draft him.
On the other hand, Christian Gonzalez was the 8th overall player on the consensus board, and the Steelers could have stayed at pick 17 and selected him while hanging onto their original third-round pick.
To call Jones a disappointment through his first two seasons would be an understatement. While the Steelers have no doubt stunted his development by forcing him to move to right tackle, then back to left tackle again in Year 3, Jones has struggled with technique, power, and assignments. Now his third season becomes a pivotal year, and the former Georgia Bulldog must show signs of improvement to hang onto his starting job beyond 2025.
Gonzalez is just the opposite. When healthy, he's been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Gonzalez's combination of size (6'1 3/8'', 197 pounds), athletic traits (4.38 40-yard dash, 41 1/2'' vertical jump), and ball skills (14 passes defended and three interceptions in 20 games) gives him a ceiling of one of the best cornerbacks in the league.
While Jones was struggling to keep his head above water and to escape Steelers games without major mishaps, Gonzalez was earning national recognition for his strong performances. By the end of the season, the New England Patriots' cornerback finished with Second-Team All-Pro honors while finishing fifth in Comeback Player of the Year voting.
It's clear that Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers made a mistake and ignored BPA when they drafted for need with Broderick Jones. Christian Gonzalez would have been the right choice, and seeing NFL execs, coaches, and scouts rank him as the sixth-best cornerback in the NFL is just another brutal reminder of what they missed out on.