Five Play Prospect: Gators WR Xzavier Henderson Scouting Report

A five play scouting report dissecting the strengths in wide receiver Xzavier Henderson's game, and what he brings to Florida.

The Florida Gators entered the offseason with two pressing needs to fill prior to National Signing Day on February 5th. 

Given Florida's priority was to rebuild their offensive and defensive trenches, as well as the secondary, within the 2020 class, both the running back and wide receiver positions were put on a back-burner and left to solve prior to February. 

The Gators nailed both positions this past weekend. First, former five-star prospect and Miami Hurricanes redshirt freshman RB Lorenzo Lingard announced that he would transfer to Florida on Friday, and four-star WR Xzavier Henderson made a pledge to the Gators during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

Previously, GatorMaven provided a scouting report on Lingard's talents and what he will provide the Gators when he hits the field. Now, it's time to take a deep-dive into Henderson's game.

The 6-4, 185 lb. wide receiver, brother of now-former Gators cornerback C.J., has previously clocked a 4.55 40 yard dash, a good time for a player of his length. Henderson also ran track for Columbus High School (Miami, FL), posting a personal record of 46.77 seconds in the 400-meter dash and 22.07 in the 200-meter this past track season.

That speed is evident in his tape, as Henderson is a fluid mover that takes long strides to gain depth in his routes.

Film Room

Vertical prowess

With the aforementioned speed and glide that Henderson packs into his releases, it's easy for him to gain separation vertically after eliminating the coverage defender's cushion.

Each step in Henderson's release into the go-route above is calculated, taking three long steps off of the line to slightly open the cornerback's hips. The corner is patient at first, but the second he drops his inside foot and slightly opens towards the quarterback, Henderson plants his left foot and gets outside of the corner's opposite shoulder.

From there, Henderson's long strides and speed take over. He gains about three yards of vertical separation and controls the boundary, with safety help being drawn away to the seam. This pass is underthrown to prevent the safety from reacting timely to come back and play the ball, so Henderson utilizes sudden and polished footwork to stop on a dime, make a turn, and climb the ladder to make a highlight catch at the boundary.

And given how nimble Henderson is on his feet, he makes a clean landing and turns back upfield to go the distance.

Florida has taken to receiver prospects with immense length that can win at the boundary. This skill is prevalent in Ja'Quavion Fraziars, Leonard Manuel, and Jordan Pouncey's game, and it's one of Henderson's key traits.

With a solid hand swipe at the beginning of the route, against press-man coverage, Henderson creates spacing near the sideline to attack the outside and go deep. His spacing is confined between the numbers and the boundary, so every move counts in order to get deep quickly and avoid getting nudged out of bounds. 

Henderson wins at the line with his hand swat. That move will require more strength at the next level, which is something that wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales will work with him on to continue beating press coverage. But it worked in high school, and it established a foundation for winning physically at the line as he develops.

Down the sideline, Henderson is once again targeted on a slightly underthrown floater (intentionally to prevent safety help) that he has to go up and get. Henderson times his jump perfectly through congestion and contact, and extends his arms outwards to bring in a pass placed only where he could get it. That's a pro catch.

Route breaks

Henderson uses his vertical skill-set to open himself up in the short-to-intermediate passing game as well. He doesn't have an arsenal of West Coast routes down, concepts in which Florida predicated it's passing game on in 2019, but that shouldn't be of concern. He absolutely can add routes over time given his athletic profile and the football IQ Henderson displays in his game. 

On this route, Henderson once again releases vertically to the outside, working outside after cutting down the off-man cushion about 75%. But given the cornerback's depth in off-man coverage, Henderson still has room to force his opponent to flip his hips and open up a route break.

He took advantage.

As soon as the corner and Henderson's hips met in stride, Henderson was quick to sink into his route break and work back towards the QB on a deep curl. To ensure separation, Henderson used his outside arm to swipe through the cornerback's right arm, which was congesting Henderson's turn.

From there, Henderson accelerated back to the ball and made a quick-reaction catch along the sidelines for a first down.

Henderson flashes some serious yards-after-catch ability on this deep curl route

Provided a flat route from the stacked slot receiver and a check-down curl from the tight end in the middle of the field, taking away the nickel defender and middle linebacker, paired with the cornerback playing about nine yards off in Cover 3, Henderson has ample field space to deepen this curl route.

He takes it about 10 yards at the top of the route (12 when you consider his stance pre-snap), and has a huge zone to sink into between the secondary and the interior coverage defenders. The quarterback makes a nice throw, targeting a gap between the nickel corner and MIKE linebacker that Henderson squeezes through to make the catch.

From there, Henderson utilizes the gaping zone between the hashes to turn upfield, turning a near-10 yard play into a gain of about 25. His shift is swift and controlled, and he is able to hit top gear relatively quickly out of his cuts and turns.

Body control adjusting to the ball

He's shown it on the boundary by getting vertical and making contested catches that light up highlight reels, but Henderson isn't afraid of doing what it takes to make plays in traffic, too. 

Henderson gets double-teamed on an in-breaking route - it's not clear if it's supposed to be a slant that the quarterback intentionally made an adjustment-throw to beat the double-team or just a sit route. 

Whichever route it is, the ball gets put behind Henderson and to the outside in order to prevent a play by the defensive backs in pursuit. Henderson swiftly chops his feet, plants his outside foot, and contorts his body to make a stretched-out hands catch in the middle of the field.

Elite body control.

Final Thoughts

Henderson has the makings of an elite receiver, given his size, athleticism, and polish as a vertical receiver - which appears to be the profile of choice for head coach Dan Mullen and Gonzales.

X. Henderson; 6-4, 185, 4.55
J. Fraziars: 6-4, 194, 4.64
L. Manuel: 6-4, 200 (40 time ?)
J. Pouncey: 6-2, 205, 4.65

T Whittemore: 6-3, 190 (40 time ?)
J. Weston: 6-3, 205 (40 time ?)

Wish 40 times/testing results were prevalent in recruiting, but there's a trend here. #Gators

— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) January 5, 2020

Note: Freshman receiver Dionte Marks was accidentally omitted from this tweet under the perception that he still stood at 5-11, his height when he was recruited. Marks now stands at 6-2, according to the Florida Gators' roster.

The style of receiver that the Gators have targeted over the previous two classes all stand over 6-2, and carry at least solid speed for their frame. It's only a trend based on high school tape and each recruit's strengths, but it appears that Mullen and Gonzales have a preference towards bigger athletes who can win vertically at the receiver position.

Henderson will be the measuring stick of that prototype for Mullen and Co. He's considered an elite prospect for good reason, it's evident in his tape. Given the losses Florida is facing at receiver entering 2020 - four starters will graduate - Henderson is a candidate to receive playing time early and often.