2020 NFL Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars land impact corner C.J. Henderson

Instant analysis of the Jacksonville Jaguars selecting Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson with the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

There were many different thoughts about what the Jacksonville Jaguars would do with the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but they ultimately decided to select Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson.

After trading Jalen Ramsey to the Rams earlier this season, the Jaguars came into the offseason with a big need at cornerback.  That need only grew after they traded A.J. Bouye to the Broncos. These trades left them with only Tre Herndon and Rashaan Melvin to play outside cornerback, so it was known they needed to address the position at some point early in the draft and they didn’t wait long.

C.J. Henderson has all the physical traits needed to turn into a lockdown cornerback in the NFL. He has good size (6-foot-1, 204 pounds) and good speed (4.39 40 yard dash time), and solid leaping ability.

He was a three-year starter at Florida, a school that has consistently produced NFL defensive backs, but Henderson is the best in recent memory.  He’s proved he’s fully capable of making plays on the ball when targeted as he had six interceptions and 20 passes defended in his career.

My biggest concern with him is that he had an up and down season last year. Henderson missed some games early with an ankle injury and ultimately struggled with consistently from that point on. He received a 62.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which is not what you would expect from a top 10 pick.

It’s impossible to not get beat as a cornerback, but he got beat way too often and at all levels of the field. While he did have a disappointing season last year, the fact he’s started three years in the SEC definitely should ease the transition to the NFL.

Ultimately, if it was my decision I would taken a wide receiver or offensive tackle and addressed cornerback with their other first-round pick, but Henderson has a lot of potential, so while I don’t love this selection, I don’t hate it either.