2020 NFL Draft: Florida Gators prospects to watch in Week 1
By Dan Matney
CB CJ Henderson
Henderson is yet another in a long line of talented Florida cornerbacks.
He’s listed at 6-foot-1, 182 pounds, but he certainly looks shorter than that on film. Size aside, Henderson is a good athlete that possesses tremendous quickness and balance. He has fluid hips and can change directions with ease.
Henderson plays press and off-man on a consistent basis, and he makes staying in stride with SEC-level receivers look effortlessly.
He could stand to be more physical in press, but he’s smart and funnels the outside release towards the boundary, giving his assignment little room for separation.
Henderson quickly gets up to speed when he flips and goes vertical and does a nice job staying attached to the receivers’ hip pocket. He’s effective playing with inside leverage and flashes play-making ability when the ball comes his way. He does a nice job getting his head around and has a knack for getting his hand in at the last second to tip passes away.
Although he has ball skills and can read it well in the air, Henderson struggles in jump ball situations and has questionable strength at the catch point.
Henderson has good route recognition playing in off-man coverage and has tremendous quickness when he drives and breaks on the ball.
Henderson possesses the ball skills and instincts to hold up in zone coverage, although he doesn’t have the length you’d like for a Cover 3 corner. He does, however, display ability playing the flats in Cover 2.
He’s a talented coverage player but Henderson really needs to take a step forward as a run defender.
As with most cornerbacks, he isn’t particularly aggressive in run support and only really puts forth the effort when he wants to. He did flash impressive finishing ability against LSU last year, but most of the time he’s displayed minimum effort and overall ability to wrap up ball carriers in space.
The matchup against Miami likely means he’ll be asked to shadow KJ Osborn most of the game. Osborn is a talented receiver that certainly has an NFL future, and he’s going to be a great early test for Henderson. Osborn is a solid receiver but he excels at blocking and his physicality is going to allow some of the questions about Henderson’s motor to be answered early on.