When it comes to the draft buzz of Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson, fans would be hard-pressed to find a player whose stock is rising faster. Several reports have surfaced about teams in the second half of the first-round wanting to trade up for him as he offers great coverage ability.
One team that probably wouldn’t have to trade up for Henderson are the Jacksonville Jaguars, who could address a big need by selecting him. The team traded Jalen Ramsey in October and A.J. Bouye this offseason, so there is an obvious need for a starting cornerback.
It doesn’t help that the Jags have shown a lot of love towards Florida University players, as they’ve taken early-round guys like Dante Fowler Jr., Taven Bryan, and Jawaan Taylor under general manager Dave Caldwell. As a result, the Jags have been linked to the young cornerback often lately.
In a conference call with NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, Jags Wire got a chance to ask about Henderson being taken with the No. 9 overall pick. He called the potential of landing him a “real possibility” and also discussed the traits teams like and disliked about Henderson in comparison to Jeff Okudah of Ohio State.
“Well, I think there’s a real possibility,” Jeremiah said. “He ended up as my 21st player, but he’s my second corner, and you’re talking about a premier position that everybody is trying to fill at the corner position. That’s not a terrible reach if he were to be the ninth pick, and he’s got all the athletic ability in the world. He tested unbelievably well. He’s fluid and smooth.
My issues with him, why I see the difference between him and Okudah. He’s a better athlete than Okudah, but Okudah is a better football player. Okudah is tougher, Okudah tackles better. He finds and plays the football a little bit better.
Henderson has got all the upside in the world, I think you’d say even more upside than Okudah, but man, he’s got to clean up his tackling and he’s got to get a little bit more consistent playing the ball down the field. But to answer your question at 9, that would not totally surprise me.”
Henderson is a player who managed to see the field dating back to his freshman year and accumulated 66 career tackles, 20 pass breakups, and six picks. He was named a first-teamer for the All-SEC squad in 2019 (coaches vote) and was a second-teamer the year before, then an AP second-teamer the year before that. All of this came while covering an elite bunch of receivers in the Southeastern Conference.
An option Jeremiah felt was an even bigger possibility than taking Henderson was the possibility for the Jags to trade back, something he’s stressed this whole month.
“But I do, as we get closer, I do expect Jacksonville to try and find a way to get out of there,” Jeremiah said. “I don’t know that they’re going to necessarily pick at 9. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them move back and move around the board a little bit, as they continue to add more picks not only for this year but maybe attempting to add some picks for next year.”
One team that could want to move up in the draft for Henderson or another elite defender are the Atlanta Falcons, who released Desmond Trufant this offseason. However, when looking at what it would take and the Falcons’ limited draft capital, it seems unlikely that they would do business with the Jags.
That said, maybe a team within the top-14 picks would want to move up while offering the Jags a 2020 second-rounder and maybe a little more. As the draft gets closer, fans should be mindful of any trade rumors as the Jags could potentially be an option with the right dance partner.