Top Cornerbacks in NFL Draft: C.J. Henderson

With size, speed and quiet confidence, Florida’s D.J. Henderson is the No. 4 cornerback in the 2020 NFL Draft.

With size, speed and quiet confidence, Florida’s D.J. Henderson is the No. 4 cornerback in the 2020 NFL Draft.

C.J. Henderson did his homework. The payoff is just days away.

At Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Henderson was a star running back who gave cornerback a shot as a senior. He received scholarship offers to play running back but chose defense and the University of Florida. “I thought about down the line, looked at the league, different prototypes of cornerbacks in the league, and I looked at running backs,” he told the Orlando Sentinel. “I was a better fit at corner, so I just stuck with it.”

Good decision. Henderson is a sure-fire first-round pick. Henderson intercepted a career-high four passes as a freshman, had career highs of three sacks and five tackles for losses as a sophomore, and recorded a career-high 11 passes defensed (zero interceptions) as a junior. He was first-team all-SEC and earned some All-American honors in 2019.

“I'd definitely rank myself No. 1” in this year’s cornerback class, Henderson, a man with quiet confidence, said at the Scouting Combine. “I expect everyone else to rank themselves the same. I highly respect the rest of the corners. What separates me is that I'm a competitor and I'm very smart.”

According to Sports Info Solutions, he allowed a 51 percent completion rate. He had zero interceptions, two dropped interceptions and allowed two touchdowns. Without the turnovers and dogged by an ankle injury for most of the season, he allowed a passer rating of 93.3. Fully healthy in 2018, he was dominant. According to SIS, he allowed a 38 percent completion rate and no touchdowns for a pitiful passer rating of 24.1.

What we like

At 6-foot 3/4 and with 4.39 speed in the 40, Henderson is the best size-speed corner in this draft not named Jeff Okudah. He’s played a lot of high-level football in the best conference in the nation. The team that drafts him “would be getting an extremely competitive guy, who is passionate about the game and who is going to give his best effort on every single play.”

What we don’t like

There’s no doubt Henderson is higher than No. 4 on some teams’ boards. In fact, it’d be a shock if he’s the fourth corner selected. His run defense, however, isn’t nearly good enough. He missed eight tackles; his missed-tackle rate of 20 percent being among the worst in the draft class. Guys who can’t tackle often are forced by the opposition to tackle.

Bill Huber’s Cornerback Profiles

No. 1: Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah

No. 2: Alabama’s Trevon Diggs

No. 3: Utah’s Jaylon Johnson

No. 4: Florida’s C.J. Henderson

No. 5: LSU’s Kristian Fulton

Nos. 6-20: Best of the Rest