About C.J

Christopher, (C.J.) was a 4-star athlete out of the state of Florida, and played running back and cornerback for Columbus High School in Miami. Henderson held plenty of offers, but Miami and Florida were the leaders the the U.S. Army All-American. After committing to Miami originally he de-committed and flipped to Florida and the rest was history from there.

C.J received playing time as a true freshman, recording 22 tackles and four interceptions in just 5 starts (11 games played). Florida had a bevy of defensive backs in 2017, so finding playing time at all is pretty impressive. Henderson burst onto the scene recording two pick six in his first two career games vs Michigan and Tennessee. His season would earn him AP Second Team All-SEC. All though Henderson’s career started off hot, the Gators wouldn’t make a bowl game and finish the season at a disappointing 4-7.

After the hot freshman season, C.J. would start of as Preseason Second Team All-SEC, and he would back it up. In 2018 Henderson recorded 38 total tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions with a team leading seven pass deflections. Once again C.J. would earn Second Team All-SEC, this time by the league’s coaches. The Gators would go 10-3 with their new head coach Dan Mullen, and would end up beating No. 14 Michigan 41-15 in the Peach Bowl.

2019 would start off even hotter as he was now a Preseason First Team All-SEC member, but he was also named to the Bednarik Award watch list. Despite missing four games due to an injury, Henderson would finish with 33 total tackles, three for a loss, a sack and 11 pass break ups. His totals would help him finish First Team All-SEC and helped the Gators to an 11-2 season ending in an Orange Bowl victory.

Strengths

Excellent at dislodging the ball after the receiver as already got his hands on it. He has great hips and feet, flows fairly well with the receiver he guards. His frame is long and so are his arms, which make him even more dangerous in press coverage. If he gets beat his speed is some of the best in the NCAA, so he can make up the distance easily. All those traits come to fruition when he is in man coverage, normally putting his receiver out of the play.

CJ Henderson should change his name to Maple Syrup.

Why? Because the man is STICKY. pic.twitter.com/VxV03RmZdv
— Carter Donnick (@CDonnick3) June 15, 2019

Weaknesses

While he sometimes will be sent on cornerback blitzes at Florida, Henderson is by no means a willing tackler. Like most cornerbacks, C.J. definitely lacks effort when it comes to tackling, which makes for a lot of broken tackles as you could imagine. A perfect example of this is in the opening game against Miami this year, C.J. goes to stop their running back but instead of wrapping up he just tries to knock him over. Henderson then goes on to whiff on the tackle, allowing a giant touchdown run for Miami to take the lead.

NFL Draft Projection/NFL Player Comp

Where does C.J. Henderson get drafted come April?

NFL Draft Projection

After the NFL Combine, and Pro Days settled, I moved up C.J. as my 2nd overall cornerback over Kristan Fulton. Since my last update Henderson moved from 29th overall to 13th overall on my NFL Big Board, and With Okudah likely going in the Top 5 picks, I wouldnt be surprised if we saw two cornerbacks going in the Top 12 picks of the draft. Currently I have Henderson going 16th overall to the Atlanta Falcons, but I wouldnt be surprised if a team like Jacksonville looks to steal him with the 9th pick.

Atlanta released Desmond Trufant, who later signed with the Lions, and now have a massive hole at cornerback. The Falcons could use an upgrade a few other positions, but cornerback is without a doubt their most pressing need. Henderson would come in as the presumed starter, and hopefully add a spark to the Falcons secondary that has been missing for a while.

NFL Player Comp

While his tackling skills are suspect, he is so talented everywhere else that he still should be selected in the 1st round. He clings to his receivers on coverage, and rarely allows massive separation in their routes. His freaky athleticism allows him to be risky with his

I expect Henderson to kill the combine, and then we could see him take a spike on some NFL team’s draft boards, similarly to NFL Pro comparison. Marshon Lattimore ran a 4.36 40 and jumped nearly 39 inches at the 2017 NFL Draft which would cement him as CB1. Both players are lockdown corners, who can be a big play threat if they get the ball in their hands.