With the Jacksonville Jaguars roster consisting of 12 drafted rookies, it goes without saying that the young team will have to depend on various first year players to register a better season than in 2019. One area where they will be particularly young is at cornerback, where 30-year-old veteran D.J. Hayden will be the oldest player of the group by five years.
With the team going through the ramp-up phase of training camp at the moment, Hayden told the media that he’s been impressed with the young group around him. He started with first-round pick C.J. Henderson, who he praised for having good anticipation and movement skills.
“I like C.J. [Henderson] a lot,” said Hayden of the rookie. “I actually saw him do a couple of breaks today. You can tell the way somebody moves and how they come out of their breaks, whether they have something or not. C.J. [Henderson], yeah he definitely has some amazing talent.”
As many are aware, Henderson is going to need to go into the regular season with some momentum because he’s going to have to start immediately. With the Indianapolis Colts on the schedule Week 1, this month of training camp is going to be crucial for him, and so far, it sounds like he’s been impressive.
Another player entering a crucial time for his development is cornerback Tre Herndon, who Hayden also spoke about Monday. After multiple seasons of watching him develop, Hayden mentioned the progress Herndon has made since his rookie year while crediting it to his work ethic.
“Over the years that I’ve been here with Tre, he’s shown a lot of grit and he works very hard,” Hayden said. “Probably one of the hardest workers on this team. Just to see him come from his rookie year just doing special team stuff then, his second year when the whole Jalen [Ramsey] thing came on, he kind of got thrown in the fire, but he accepted it. He was ready, played well and I’m excited for him. He’s definitely going to play a long time in this league.”
Herndon could be in line to start again in 2020 after starting in all but two games last season due to the Jalen Ramsey saga and injuries. However, it appears he’ll receive some competition from free-agent addition Tramaine Brock, who brings over a decade of experience to the table. Regardless, Herndon seems to be developing at a fast rate, and when camp ends, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him as a starter once again.