The surprising Carolina Panthers are 3-0 with new quarterback Sam Darnold.
But the team’s hot start hasn’t come without adversity. Rookie cornerback Jaycee Horn left last Thursday’s game against the Houston Texans with a foot injury, and he was placed on injured reserve on Monday. Horn is expected to undergo surgery to repair broken bones in his right foot and is out indefinitely.
Panthers head coach Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Phil Snow obviously don’t want their defense to regress without Horn, the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft. Prior to the arrival of Rhule and Snow, the Panthers ranked 31st in the NFL in points allowed in 2019. Carolina has allowed only 30 points through three games this season, the second-best mark in the league.
The Panthers lead the league in total defense, having allowed just 573 yards through three games. That’s the fewest allowed by any NFL team starting 3-0 since 1992.
In response to the injury, the Panthers made a bold move to acquire cornerback C.J. Henderson from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Panthers sent tight end Dan Arnold and a third-round draft pick to Jacksonville for Henderson and a fifth-round selection. Henderson, chosen ninth overall in the 2020 NFL draft, might be the closest thing to Horn available.
Horn and Henderson are almost identical in measurables, and they have similar playing styles as well. Both are comfortable in man coverage, which is a likely reason why the Panthers chose Henderson as Horn’s replacement.
Let’s examine how Henderson fits in Carolina’s system.
Rhule was asked Monday about Henderson and how his traits fit the Panthers defense. The coach responded with a few characteristics: open run cover corner, bump and run skills and the ability to sit on routes and use his football IQ to make plays on the ball.
When Rhule says open run corner, what he means is Henderson’s ability to play head up against the receiver, open his hips and stick with his guy downfield. In preseason with the Jaguars this year, Henderson made some key plays against the Dallas Cowboys using this technique:
This technique is generally used in man coverage, and Henderson is at his best when playing man. Henderson doesn’t bite on quick releases as he keeps his hips square, locking down opposing No. 1 receivers early in their routes.
The Panthers have a productive pass rush, so Snow needs defensive backs who can cover their guys long enough for the pressure to arrive.
Last week against the Texans (below), the Panthers brought pressure against quarterback Davis Mills and forced him to get rid of the ball quickly. Carolina’s cornerbacks were playing head up across from the receivers while using the open run cover as those receivers began their routes.
Henderson saw this same look in Week 1 against the Texans below. 
Henderson shows the ability to defend these routes using the same open and run technique as the Panthers. But he shows more fluidity and ease as he backpedals while reading the receivers’ hitch route.
The one area of Henderson’s game that needs work is his bump-and-run technique. In the clip below, he uses the bump and run against Denver Broncos wideout Courtland Sutton. After reaching to get Sutton off-balance, Henderson is briefly left at the line of scrimmage. But his speed allowed him to recover and stay step for step with Sutton downfield.
When it comes to a cornerback sitting on a route, the defender is standing off-coverage far enough that he can determine where the receiver is going to run. Usually on these occasions, the cornerback is in zone coverage. Rhule loves to have his secondary sit back and wait for the pressure to take over the quarterback, using a mix of coverage and blitz.
Using a mix of downfield coverage and pressure from up-front was exactly how rookie Horn pulled in an interception against the New Orleans Saints in Week 2. He essentially was just sitting in zone coverage watching quarterback Jameis Winston’s eyes and put himself in the position to catch the overthrown ball.
On Henderson’s interception below, he surely wasn’t free to make a play on the ball but he was in zone-match coverage. Last year, as a rookie, Henderson settled ran with his receiver into his zone, then looked downfield as he saw Phillip Rivers eying up the underneath route. Henderson was patient and stepped right in front of the receiver for the interception.
This is something Henderson does well. He can slide back into his zone, sit to read the play and bring anyone down coming his way.
This is where Henderson’s football IQ comes in. Often, when he is in zone and man-match coverage, he keeps his eyes in the backfield, which allows him to leave his man to make a play on the ball.
On Monday, Rhule mentioned that he expects to use more nickel and dime looks, so expect Henderson to play more on the inside initially. He is accustomed to this, as he was starting to play more on the inside as the Jaguars had rookie cornerback Tyson Campbell was getting reps on the outside.
Henderson probably won’t be asked to learn many schemes early on. After all, Horn was a lockdown guy, and Henderson also is capable of handling the side opposite Donte Jackson and/or A.J. Bouye. But as Rhule said, “Be patient with great talents.” So it sounds as if the Panthers are focused on getting the best out of Henderson in the long term.
By the time Horn recovers, the Panthers will have a good handle on Henderson’s capabilities. It shouldn’t be long after that until you see Rhule and Snow use them as CB1 and CB2, and Horn and Henderson could become one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL.