2024 NFL season: One player to root for from each AFC team

I’m drawn to Gonzalez for two reasons: 

1) I want to see him make good on the promise he showed in his injury-shortened debut, logging 17 tackles, three passes defensed, one pick and one sack in four games, while earning Pro Football Focus’ best defensive grade among rookie corners through Week 4. 

2) He’s the last player Bill Belichick selected with a first-round pick. If Gonzalez is able to become “one of the best players in the game,” as teammate Jonathon Jones recently predicted, that would help add a bright note to the otherwise-dour end to Belichick’s tenure in New England. Belichick’s legacy as one of the best coaches ever is secure, but Gonzalez has a chance to give a slight boost to the icon’s final year with the Pats, and that’s the kind of narrative neatness I can’t resist.