2020 NFL Draft Big Board: Ranking the Top 10 Cornerbacks

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C.J. Henderson 1

Scouting Report

Chris Henderson was the early preseason favorite to be the first cornerback off the board come next April. An up and down performance against Miami opening night and missing three games due to a left shoulder injury have tanked his stock a bit. Henderson should still be mentioned as a player firmly entrenched in the first-round conversation.

Tasked with a lot of off-coverage duties, Henderson has good instincts when keying receivers and leveraging routes. He has excellent speed that allows for him to seamlessly carry routes down field and tap into his good ball skills when playing the ball in the air. The fluidity in his game is impressive as he has no problem sitting his hips down to drive on routes.

His burst out of his transitions are explosive whether it be turning and running or driving downhill on routes in front of him. There’s a consistent level of easiness to Henderson’s game that translates to him being able to consistently put himself in position to make plays on the football. He is a very willing tackler who has shown the ability to be used as an effective blitzer from the boundary due to his excellent speed.

Despite his willingness to tackle, he will have to answer questions about his number of misses as a result of him refusing to wrap up on contact. Does not have a lot of press coverage reps but has the length and foot speed to be an effective bump and run corner.

The traits that made Henderson the preseason CB1 favorite are still the same, the class has just started to show its depth. CJ Henderson is still a first-round cornerback who can be a steal later in the round as a guy who projects to be a consistent option as a team’s number one corner.