The Patriots could have had the steal of the draft with their original pick Thursday night.

Instead, they gambled.

The Pats traded back three spots from 14th overall, waited and then selected Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, a projected top-10 pick by most esteemed draft analysts.

Speaking with reporters after the first round, Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh explained the trade by saying the team sensed Gonzalez would still be available even after moving back.

The Patriots couldn’t guarantee it, but knew the Steelers were moving up for an offensive tackle at No. 14, and had “a “good feeling” Washington, at No. 16, wanted Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. All that left was to learn was whom the Jets — or a mystery team trading up — would take at 15th overall. But with New York unlikely to draft a corner, the Pats took the risk and added a fourth-round pick in their trade with Pittsburgh.

Groh said the Patriots expected to land a player they liked at 17th overall, even if it wasn’t Gonzalez.  Once the Jets selected Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald IV and Washington submitted its pick, the Pats wasted little time submitting their card.

“It’s nice when you have a consensus on a player,” Groh said. “From the coaching staff to the scouts, we’re fairly unified on Christian.”

Groh credited director of scouting Eliot Wolf and veteran evaluator Pat Stewart for securing the trade back with Pittsburgh. He also revealed a trade up from 14th overall was “in play today.”

The Patriots had several players at positions of need available to them at 14th overall and 17th, though Gonzalez topped them all. The 6-foot-1, 199-pounder was viewed as a consensus top-two player at his position. Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon, who went fifth overall to Seattle, was the only other contender for the top spot.

Gonzalez was the most naturally gifted cornerback in the draft and one of the most athletic players at any position. He ran a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, leapt more than 41 inches in the vertical leap and showed the fluid movements that made him an easy projection into a heavy man-to-man defense like the Patriots’ He also took a pre-draft visit to Foxboro and met with the team at the combine.

ESPN analytics gave Gonzalez’s drop to 17th overall a 0.1% chance of happening pre-draft. And yet the odds of the Patriots passing on him initially, then landing him later, seemed even lower until their dream scenario became a reality Thursday night.

“I’d say overall,” Groh began, “there was probably some surprise that he lasted as long as he did.”