2020 NFL Draft: CJ Henderson is Still an Elite Cornerback Prospect

CJ Henderson had a rough first game against the Miami Hurricanes in “Week 0” of the college football season and has since fallen to the wayside, but he is still an elite cornerback prospect.

Both during and after the Florida Gator’s win over the Miami Hurricanes (24-20), CJ Henderson has received flack because of a few missed tackles. He had two whiffs that resulted in big plays for Miami’s running back Deejay Dallas, one finishing in the end zone.

As you can see from the video above, he lacked the effort necessary to make the tackles; he didn’t wrap up and on the second play he tucked, both his head and shoulder, hoping for the best.

The lack of “dog”, if you will,  in Henderson raised concern among the draft community and has since not had his name mentioned amongst the top corners. For most, he has remained in the second tier of cornerbacks; The Draft Network has him listed as the 49th prospect on their big board.

Albeit after the Miami game, I was out on Henderson myself and moved onto other prospects, but as I do every weekend I was recapping the box scores of each game on Saturday and happened to notice that Henderson had 9 total tackles — yes, 9!

His nine tackles (8 solo) were the most by a Gator in their contest against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Not only did Henderson lead his team in tackles, but he tied for the lead in sacks with one.

Getting after the quarterback on a blitz is one of his strengths because of how quickly he can get downhill. Last year Henderson quietly racked up 3 sacks for Florida.

Against South Carolina, we saw a side of Henderson that we have yet to see, and that’s a guy willing to step up and make plays against the run. Not only was he making tackles that he wouldn’t usually make, but he was taking on lead blockers, and not just an occasional tight end or full back; he’d take on pulling guards/tackles.

The old Henderson would find a way to excuse himself from the play, but that wasn’t the case last Saturday. On multiple occasions, he made plays that won’t show up in the stat sheet. He would take on lead blockers, eliminating the corner/outside for the runner, forcing him inside into traffic.

If he can continue to show progress against the run he WILL be considered one of the top cornerbacks in the country. From the beginning, his coverage skills, especially in man, have been top-notch, and in five games he’s tallied 9 (tied for 8th nationally) pass deflections.

His ball skills are through the roof and big part of that is because of his eyes. He does a great job locating the ball in the air and has a knack for knocking the pass away. Against Henderson, there is no such thing as a perfect throw — even when the quarterback is able to hit the receiver in the perfect spot, Henderson follows the ball with his eyes and is able to deny the receiver despite them coming down with the ball initially.

When watching film on Henderson, it’s hard not to fall in love with his skills at the line-of-scrimmage. He does a great job being physical within the limitations, getting into the receiver at the line-of-scrimmage and after 5 yards, he lets off. Downfield he is still active with his hands, but he makes sure not to impede the receiver’s route.

When Henderson is in man coverage he doesn’t get beat deep often. In the 3 games (Miami, LSU, South Carolina) I have reviewed thus far, he has only been beaten over the top one time. He was beaten by South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards and even on that play, Henderson was still in phase, Edwards is just too strong and was able to secure the catch.

As you can see Henderson is in a good spot (a tad too far over the top) to make a play on the ball, but Edwards does a better job his body to shield off Henderson and catches the ball at its highest point. Again, this play is more of a testament to Edwards than a knock on Henderson, but this was the only time he has been beaten over the top in man coverage.

From watching Henderson you have the sense that he is fine with allowing receivers to beat him underneath, but even then he still attached at the hip and is able to make the tackle nearly as quick as the receiver is able to haul it in.

In zone coverage there are times where Henderson can get too aggressive and follow receivers out of his responsibility, leaving a hole in the zone. This doesn’t happen often, but it does and at the next level they will pick that apart.

That being said, if you leave Henderson in man, things will be fine.

Before the season began Henderson was listed as “CB1” for some analysts out there. After his poor performance against Miami — when everyone was watching — most have seemed to have forgotten about Henderson, but I’m here to remind you he’s still an elite cornerback prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft class.