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Florida CB C.J. Henderson declares for 2020 NFL Draft

By Jeremiah Bogan

GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 06: Justin Jefferson attempts a reception against CJ Henderson #5 of the Florida Gators during the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 06: Justin Jefferson attempts a reception against CJ Henderson #5 of the Florida Gators during the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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C.J. Henderson has entered the 2020 NFL Draft. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
C.J. Henderson has entered the 2020 NFL Draft. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Starting the year as most people’s CB1, C.J. Henderson has seen his stock slide. Today he declared for the 2020 NFL Draft, is he still a first round pick?

Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson has announced his intentions to forego his senior year and declare for the 2020 NFL Draft. The Gators are expected to play in a New Year’s Six bowl game, but Henderson has decided to forgo that as well; he is a guy who has a lot of tools and traits that can get scouts to fall in love.

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.

Henderson entered the season as CB1 on most boards but saw a slide this season. The traits that made Henderson the preseason CB1 favorite are still the same, the class has just started to show its depth.

Next. 2020 NFL Draft Big Board: Ranking the Top 10 Cornerbacks. dark

He has missed games and still played the others this season with a bad shoulder which probably explains some of the hesitancy that we didn’t see in his 2018 film. 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.

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