Two Patriots were named to the All-Pro team for the 2024 season, the Associated Press announced on Friday.
Special teams ace Brenden Schooler (first team) and top CB Christian Gonzalez (second team) were named to the Associated Press's All-Pro team. Schooler continues to receive recognition for his work on special teams with a Pro Bowl nomination, an NFLPA All-Pro selection, and now AP All-Pro honors. For Gonzalez, this is the second-year cornerback's first of hopefully many accolades that he has received in his short NFL career. He joins Trent McDuffie and Derwin James (slot) on the second team, while Patrick Surtain II, Derek Stingley Jr., and Marlon Humphrey (slot) were the first-team All-Pros at the cornerback position.
Starting with Gonzalez, the 2023 first-round pick made it his personal goal to make the All-Pro team this season to cap off a tremendous start to his career. Gonzalez is the first non-special teamer to receive All-Pro honors for the Patriots since 2021 (J.C. Jackson). Although he was a Pro Bowl snub, Gonzalez's main focus was being named an All-Pro.
"All-Pro is definitely a better award than the Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl is all bonus. If it comes, it comes. Cool. But, yeah, definitely striving more for All-Pro," Gonzalez told Patriots.com in December.
As the No. 1 corner in a defense that played man coverage at the second-highest rate in the NFL, Gonzalez was often tasked with shadowing the opposing team's number-one receiver. Gonzo went head-to-head against the league's best receivers on a weekly basis, such as Ja'Marr Chase, Tyreek Hill, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Davante Adams, among others. In Week 1, he held Chase to three catches for 15 yards. He also locked up Hill (one catch, 10 yards in Week 12) and Harrison Jr. (one catch, 23 yards) in standout performances.
Despite the difficulty of those matchups, Gonzalez ranked seventh in passer rating (70.5) and 10th in completion rate (54.8%) into his coverage last season among 77 qualified corners. The Pats CB1 is also the only cornerback to face 10 or more deep targets without allowing a touchdown, forcing a tight-window percentage of 73.3% on deep targets in his career (second-best in the NFL). Gonzalez also finished his second season with two interceptions, seven pass breakups, and returned a fumble for a touchdown in his All-Pro campaign.
For the rebuilding Patriots, Gonzalez, the 17th overall pick in the 2023 draft, is a building block on defense. As the team heads into a major offseason where personnel upgrades are necessary, New England has a defensive pillar to build around in the second-team All-Pro.
As for Schooler, the Patriots special teams ace continues to collect accolades following a stellar season. The third-year pro made the AP All-Pro team as the core special-teamer for the first time in his career. According to Pro Football Focus, Schooler had an elite 91.1 special teams grade this season, third among special-teamers. He also logged nine tackles, forced a fumble, blocked a punt, and forced several fair catches as a gunner in punt coverage.
Schooler was also one of the fastest players in the NFL this season, per NextGen Stats. In Week 1, Schooler topped out at 22.42 miles per hour covering a punt vs. the Bengals, the fifth-fastest timed speed of any player in the league this past season. Schooler eclipsed 22 MPH again in Week 5, making it extremely difficult to single-block him in kick coverage.
During an interview with Patriots.com, Patriots legend Matthew Slater, a two-time All-Pro himself, summed up what makes Schooler great.
"I'm biased, but I think he's the best [special teams] player in the NFL," Slater said of Schooler. "We're fortunate to have a game changer like him. We're going to do a lot of things to try to put him in position to make plays because we know he can. We build a lot of what we do around 41,"
After a difficult season for the team as a whole, two Patriots being recognized as All-Pro caliber players is a step in the right direction.
Gonzalez and Schooler can hopefully lead New England back to where it wants to go as two young cornerstones on defense and special teams.
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