5 NFL teams that should trade for C.J. Henderson from Jaguars
C.J. Henderson was the ninth overall pick in the 2020 draft but, with reports that he could be traded, which NFL teams would make terrific landing spots?
If nothing else, new head coach Urban Meyer comes to the Jacksonville Jaguars with a boatload of young talent at his disposal. Obviously, Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne are at the forefront of that. However, defensive guys like Josh Allen, K’Lavon Chaisson and C.J. Henderson. The last of those might not be around for the Meyer tenure, though.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Sunday that there is a belief around the league that C.J. Henderson, the No. 9 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, could be available for trade. Fowler later noted that the second-year cornerback reported for camp after being on the Reserve/COVID list and things seemed good but that doesn’t mean a trade isn’t possible.
Jacksonville has a ton of bodies at corner with Shaquill Griffin, Tre Herndon, Sidney Jones and second-round rookie Tyson Campbell all in the building. So if there’s interest in a recent first-round pick like Henderson, maybe a trade wouldn’t be a bad idea. And though he graded out as only the 74th-best cornerback according to PFF (subscription required) in his rookie campaign that was shortened due to injury, his athletic potential and profile are still valuable.
Should that be the case, these five NFL teams would be great landing spots for a C.J. Henderson trade.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
One of the most befuddling things about the Kansas City Chiefs is the perceived lack of talent that the franchise has at cornerback but how it never seems to fully bite them. A bit part of that, without question, is hitting on mid-rounders like L’Jarius Sneed or finding value in trades for guys like Charvarius Ward and newcomer Mike Hughes. But they don’t have an elite talent at cornerback at this point.
There is not a guarantee that C.J. Henderson is going to be an elite cornerback. However, given the fact that he was a top-10 pick just one year ago and tested athletically as he did leads you to believe that he most definitely has that type of upside. And though it wasn’t consistent by any means, Henderson gave us glimpses of that potential throughout his rookie season with the Jaguars. His next step is doing that on a game-to-game basis.
Kansas City is perpetually up against the salary gap but the franchise always seems to have some wizardry on hand when it comes to their books. They can make any high-upside move, be it a gamble or a wise investment, work. Doing the same with a second-year player like Henderson given their situation would make almost too much sense given their current situation.