Las Vegas Raiders 2020 NFL Draft prospect profile: CJ Henderson

If Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden do decide to take a cornerback early, Florida’s CJ Henderson has all the coverage ability the Las Vegas Raiders could ask for.

With the Las Vegas Raiders getting some very promising play from Trayvon Mullen in his rookie season, it appears they will have a great young player to build around in the secondary. And as this 2020 NFL draft approaches, there is a strong belief that the Raiders will opt to address the opposite corner spot early to create what could be a dynamic young tandem.

We really don’t have much insight as to who exactly the Raiders will favor, but a name that has been linked to the team is Florida’s CJ Henderson. In Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft on ESPN, he had the Raiders taking the cornerback at # 12.

"“And just like 2019, they still have needs in the secondary, where they got solid play from second-round pick Trayvon Mullen but don’t have much else at cornerback. Henderson would be an upgrade.”"

Henderson is one of those prospects that has gone through the entire draft roller coaster when it comes to where he’s been valued. At the beginning of the season, he was highly touted after a tremendous 2018 season as a sophomore, but after a bad showing in week one of 2019, his name began to fall a bit. And despite still playing well, there were times where he showed poor effort.

However, as we have gotten closer and closer to the draft, Henderson is finding himself back in the top 15 of the mock drafts, and that means the Raiders could be in prime position to select him. Henderson possesses a rare combination of size, athleticism, and man coverage ability that give him perhaps the highest ceiling of any cornerback in the draft. On the flip side, there appear to be some issues in terms of his effort that could be of concern.

Let’s take a better look at Henderson and understand why he could be worth a first-round pick for the Raiders.