Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Despite NFL draft hype, Henderson ‘one-of-a-kind guy’ for No. 11 Florida
GAINESVILLE — Another practice is in the books for the Florida football team. Sweatsoaked Gators in dirt-stained uniforms trudge back to the locker room.
CJ Henderson, shirt off and in his defensive stance across from fellow cornerback Trey Dean, stays behind. Work remains.
The scene plays out most evenings under the lights of
UF’s indoor practice facility and offers a snapshot of how Henderson has developed into a future early-round NFL draft pick at a position he did not focus on until he arrived at UF.
“It just shows that he wants to be great,” receiver Josh Hammond said. “He’s not going to let it slip, and he’s going to work his butt off to try and be the best corner in the country. I think that’s his mindset, and I think that’s how he attacks the day every day.
“Even though he doesn’t speak very much, his actions and work show.”
Reticence is an uncommon quality at cornerback, where many players pride themselves on the ability to talk-trash and back it up.
The soft-spoken Henderson, however, continues to learn the finer points of the position.
The Gators’ sophomore played running back at Miami’s
Columbus High School until he decided to also dabble a bit at cornerback during an injury-plagued senior season.
Henderson could have lined up anywhere and dominated, Columbus coach Chris Merritt told the Independent Florida Alligator last season.
“I could’ve put him at guard,” Merritt joked. “He still would’ve been the best athlete on the field.”
Despite scholarship offers to play tailback for Auburn and West Virginia, the long and lanky Henderson saw a better future for himself by facing wide receivers.
“I thought about down the line, looked at the league, different prototypes of cornerbacks in the league, and I looked at running backs,” the 6-foot-1, 191-pound Henderson recalled. “I was a better fit at corner, so I just stuck with it.”
The 20-year-old made a wise choice.
Entering Saturday’s visit to Florida State, Henderson has positioned himself to leave UF as one of the best cornerbacks in school history and is projected as the No. 20 pick in one 2020 mock draft.
Henderson already has veteran defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s vote.
“He’s the best [college] corner I’ve ever coached,” said Grantham, now in his 18th season at the college level along with 11 in the NFL. “He’s competitive. He plays hard and he does his job. He works.”
Henderson did not need long to make his mark at UF, becoming the first Gators freshman to record pick-sixes during consecutive games when he torched Michigan and Tennessee for scores to open last season.
Henderson’s career numbers — six interceptions and 10 pass breakups — are solid and will continue to grow. But his skill set is what separates Henderson and causes opposing quarterbacks to avoid him.
“The things with good corners, the stats won’t show how good they usually are,” said former UF All-America cornerback Keiwan Ratliff. “Because if you watch film, quarterbacks are attacking whoever’s opposite of No. 5.”
Other than quarterback at UF, cornerback might have the proudest tradition of any position, especially of late. Lito Sheppard (2002), Joe Haden (2010) and Vernon Hargreaves III (2016) were first-round picks. Ratliff (2004), Quincy Wilson (2017), Jalen Tabor (2017) and Duke Dawson (2018) were second-round selections.
All-time interceptions leader Fred Weary, with 15, was a first-team All-America in 1997 who played six NFL seasons. NFL Pro Bowler Janoris Jenkins made first-team All-SEC at UF in 2010 but was kicked off the team for marijuana possession the following spring.
Henderson grew up idolizing Haden and hoping to become a Gator. Even though he and Henderson wear the same jersey number, Haden has not seen him play but is glad to see him carry on the tradition.
“There’s a lot of pride at that position,” Haden said recently.
Henderson has the potential to become the Gators’ gold standard. His length and ball skills are special, but his speed is unmatched.
“That’s where he separates himself from the likes of me or Lito or Joe and Janoris,” Ratliff said. “He has the top-end speed where he run with the 10.3 [100-meter-dash] guys, the 4.3 [40-yard dash] guys. I think he’s capable of running step with step with those guys.”
Henderson likes to tempt quarterbacks to test him. Two weekends ago, South Carolina’s Jake Bentley took the bait, allowing Henderson to ice the Gators’ 35-31 comeback win with an interception.
“He’ll kind of let you run by him a little bit to make you think you got the deep ball and you really don’t,” Hammond said. “Because he knows he trusts his feet and will be able to catch up.”
But Henderson is not all flash.
Sheer hustle and heart helped him close a 10-yard gap on South Carolina speedster Deebo Samuel to save a touchdown at the end of an 89-yard catch. On Sept. 22 at Tennessee, Henderson sprinted from the far hash mark to the opposite sideline to tackle tight end Austin Pope and force a fumble out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.
“When you talk about Gator standard, he has what we want from that perspective,” Grantham gushed.
Spectators see it on Saturdays. Henderson’s teammates see his commitment every day at practice.
“He’s definitely a one-ofa-kind guy,” Hammond said.