CJ Henderson Drafted No. 9 by Jacksonville Jaguars

With the ninth overall pick in the first round, the Jacksonville Jaguars made C.J. Henderson the first Florida Gator selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Henderson is the 53rd Florida Gator to be selected in the first round and the 18th since 2007, only Alabama (30) and Ohio State (22) have more. Florida is one of five schools (Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and USC) to have had a player taken every year in the Common Draft era and has had a player selected every year since 1952.

A Miami native Henderson came to Florida as an athlete who played cornerback and receiver but focused in on the defensive side of the ball. He excelled early on, securing a starting role in five games as a freshman.

Henderson joins fellow Gators Taven Bryan, who was selected in the first round last year, Jawaan Taylor and Lerentte McCray in Jacksonville.

As a senior: Appeared and started in nine games for the Gators, collecting 32 tackles (25 solo), 2.0 tackles for loss (6 yds.), one sack for nine yards and 11 pass breakups… Tied his career high of eight tackles (1 solo) at South Carolina… Missed games against Kentucky, Tennessee and Towson due to injury… Named to the Preseason First Team All-SEC and the Coaches’ All-SEC First Team in addition to being a Paycom Jim Thorpe Award and Lombardi semifinalist.

As a junior: Appeared in and started all 13 games throughout the season… Regarded as one of the top cornerbacks in the entire country as he totaled 38 tackles, five tackles-for-loss, three sacks, two interceptions, team-high seven pass breakups and two forced fumbles… Hauled in his two interceptions against Kentucky and South Carolina… His INT against USC sealed the win for Florida as it came late in the 4th quarter on a potential Gamecocks game-winning drive… Had a career-high 1.5 tackles-for-loss against Michigan in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl… Notched his first-career sack and forced fumble against Colorado State in Week 3… After being named as a Preseason Second Team All-SEC player, he earned Coaches’ All-SEC Second Team honors and Athlon Sports Third Team All-SEC accolades following the season… Member of a group that helped UF lead the nation in fourth quarter opponent passing efficiency (66.25) and rank second nationally in fourth quarter opponent completion percentage (40.5).

As a freshman: Appeared in all 11 games throughout the season and started five contests… Recorded his first career start at Kentucky… Totaled 22 tackles, four interceptions (two returned for a touchdown) and four pass break-ups… Tallied his interceptions returned for a touchdowns against Michigan and Tennessee in the first two games of the season and his career… Became the only true freshman in UF history to return an interception for a touchdown in consecutive games… In addition, Henderson is the only player in school history to accomplish that feat in records dating back to 1965… Since 1996, he is also the only true freshman in the nation to have returned interceptions for touchdowns in consecutive games… Tied for second in the nation overall with his two interception returned for touchdowns and he was one of 13 true freshmen to have recorded at least one pick-six during the season… From that list only two freshman, including Henderson, had two INT returns for touchdowns… Finally, he is now tied for first in program history for most interceptions returned for a touchdown in a season, with the all-time record for a career being four… His four interceptions tied Duke Dawson for the team lead and it ranked 29th in the nation and third in the SEC… Dawson and Henderson recorded back-to-back INT return touchdowns in consecutive series against Michigan… They became the first CB tandem to accomplish that feat since Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson did so against Missouri in 2016… Earned Second Team All-SEC honors by the AP and Third Team All-SEC accolades from Phil Steele… Picked up Freshman All-SEC honors by the league’s Coaches… Following his season-best five-tackle performance and the aforementioned pick-six against Tennessee, Henderson garnered SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC