Colorado flips four-star CB Christian Gonzalez away from Purdue

Colorado's momentum on the recruiting trail was taken to new heights on Monday.

The Buffs flipped four-star defensive back Christian Gonzalez away from Purdue. Gonzalez gave the Boilermakers a commitment over the summer, ahead of his senior season at The Colony (Texas).He backed off the pledge last Monday -- after making a visit to Boulder for the Stanford game -- and went public this evening after his senior season came to a close.

Gonzalez had one of the strongest senior campaigns of any defensive back in Texas and is one of the biggest risers in the latest Rivals recruiting rankings.

Gonzalez joins high school teammate Keith Miller in Colorado's 2020 recruiting haul. That collection also features other Texans such as newly committed Toren Pittman -- who also hails from North Texas -- in addition to three-star defensive end Devin Grant, three-star quarterback Bendon Lewis and three-star receiver Chris Carpenter.

"The decision really came just from when I went back up to Colorado to watch the Stanford game. While I was up there, all I felt was THIS is where I need and want to be. There wasn’t really much in the timing."

"They haven’t done anything super special -- just recruiting me almost every day and just building a relationship with me based on trust."

"I’m close with Coach Tilman and Coach Chev and Coach Tuck. Like I said, they just talked to me a lot and it wasn’t always about getting me to come; they would just want to get on the phone and talk to me about my day. Obviously, that played a big part in the decision ... I just felt best around them and that they are going to get me where I wanna go."

"After I committed, the staff’s reaction was that they were just very excited and can’t wait for me to get up there."

"I’ve honestly been feeling them for a long time. Coach Chev was the first to offer me so they just believed in me first before anyone else did. They weren’t really selling me anything, just building a relationship with me."

"Oh. the (Colorado) momentum is crazy ... Just when I was up there, it was just a different feeling. The atmosphere is amazing. Obviously, me and Keith (Miller) are close and yeah, he would tell me to come, but at the end of the day, he wanted me to do what’s best for me; he definitely never pressured me or anything like that."

At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Gonzalez has a big frame that allows him to play at either cornerback or safety, but as his senior film proved, Gonzalez is strong enough in man-to-man coverage that he'll be able to play cornerback at a very high level.

Gonzalez possesses fantastic anticipation and the short-area quickness and explosiveness to make necessary breaks on the ball. He'll be responsible for plenty of interceptions at the next level. The four-star cornerback thrived in man-to-man coverage this season and was able to jam receivers and be physical with wide receivers. He also enjoyed great success playing off-man, too. He has good speed and effectively shadowed receivers up and down the field. Gonzalez is disciplined and very technically sound and smooth in coverage with natural hips.

As a run defender, Gonzalez is a sure tackler in the open field and shows great energy in that department. He consistently accelerates to the ball for secondary help.

Gonzalez also played a starring role on offense at wide receiver and on special teams as a return specialist for The Colony, where he displayed really spectacular hands in certain situations. That's an encouraging trait for Gonzalez as a ball-hawking corner. As a returner, Gonzalez is very natural with the ball in his hands and has a great vision of the field.