Hello Everyone, sorry i haven't been as active as of late as work was my focus for most of march & april. But i'm back with another edition of Firesky's Filmroom. the last film breakdown I did about Gardner Minshew around the end of preseason/when he took over for Foles week 1 was wildly popular and blew up more than I could've ever imagined to be a 50-60 page thread. This time I wanted to do a breakdown of CJ Henderson, the first of our 1st round picks last night as I saw from the board that it was a bit of a divisive pick and a lot of ppl were angry or disappointed with him being picked at #9. and tbh, the more I watch of this kid the more convinced I am that it was a good pick, and the RIGHT pick. I mentioned in a thread about 2 weeks ago that I thought he was climbing boards and was being projected wayyy too low in most mocks. 

The film sample we'll be using for this is Henderson's road game match up against Jamar Chase from LSU this past season (the Biletnikoff winner and by far the best WR in college football): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Xdc5ehBB8

The sample covers every target that Henderson got on the night, and we're gonna break it down play by play:

Q1 15:00 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up at RCB on the boundary side, Gators are in zone (disguised Cover-3 with CJ responsible for the deep 3rd down the left sideline) with Henderson sitting 9 yards from the L.O.S. and lined up against Thaddeus Moss with Chase in the slot:
The ball is thrown underneath to chase in the flat, Henderson recognizes the play and comes up to help the LB who's responsible for the flat, lands a glancing blow but ultimately doesn't make the tackle and the result of the play is a first down for Chase & LSU. [Chase wasn't his assignment but his play recognition was great and he came up to try and make a play; his tackling was poor and that seems to be his "Achilles heel"]

Q1 13:07 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up at RCB in man coverage on Chase 3 yards off with an outside shade on the boundary side:
Chase runs a fade down the left sideline, Henderson shows great trail technique and runs with Chase step for step and gets his hand up to knock away the would be deep TD. Perfectly played by Henderson, beautiful pass breakup.

Q1 10:27 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up at LCB in man coverage on Chase, 2 yards off, head up shade on the boundary side:
This ends up being a long run play down inside the 5 yard line, but Henderson gets on his horse, keeps the angle on the RB which allows the FS to come from behind to make the tackle, CJ is right there at the end of the play & in position to help make the tackle if needed. just like the last play, another example of his speed, and keeping the angle in the open field was another positive sign.

Q1 10:01 - 1st & 10 RZ - Henderson is lined up at RCB on the boundary side Henderson & the FS are in "brackets" (which means he's responsible for anything "out" towards the sideline or deep, his FS has the "ins" and anything going towards the hash marks/middle of the field) against Chase who's the lone WR in a goal-line-run formation. Ball at the 9 CJ is 7 yards off with an outside shade:
Burrow reads the FS (Brad Stewart #2), who bites on the play action and the in breaking slant route is now wide open, CJ realizes this and moves in to try and make the play, he gets his hand in the mix but is just a hair late to stop the pass for a score. While the TD is officially attributed as being "allowed" by Henderson the failure on the play comes from the FS who over committed against the run & left Henderson out to dry. 

Q1 2:38 - 3rd & 2 - Henderson is in man coverage against Chase, 7 yards off the L.O.S. with an outside shade:
The ball is dumped to the slot receiver Jefferson who runs a flat route, Henderson recognizes this and drives on the play. He comes up and lays a nice hit on Jeffersons lower body to stop him short of the first and get the Gators defense off the field. Another great example of his play recognition and twitchy athleticism to drive on the receiver who's not his assignment to make the play. 

Q2 - No targets against CJ Henderson.

Q3 9:46 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up at LCB in zone coverage (cover-3) on the boundary side, responsible for the deep 3rd on the right sideline:
Henderson drops to start the play, sees that Chase is running a quick out, plants and drives on the ball, he overcomits towards the sideline and Chase cuts inside of his tackle attempt to pick up 15 yards and a first down for LSU. CJ whiffed the tackle pretty badly here, but had great play recognition yet again; those 2 things seem to be a recurring theme in CJ's game not just in this matchup but overall. 

Q3 9:21 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up in zone 7 yards off the L.O.S with an outside shade on the boundary side:
Henderson doesn't end up targeted on the play.

Q3: 8:50 - 2nd & 5 - Henderson is lined up in man coverage as a RCB on the boundary side, with an outside shade 5 yards off the L.O.S.:
Chase runs a quick slant underneath and CJ stumbles in coverage which allows Chase to make the catch & pick up the first down. 

Q3: 8:29 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up in zone coverage as a RCB on the boundary side with an inside shade 5 yards off the L.O.S., his responsibility is the flat:
Henderson fakes a corner blitz (something he's particularly good at) and then drops to his assignment in the left flat, he sees that the MLB (#30) is covering Jefferson on the shallow cross coming into his zone, and that the RB is staying in to help chip for the LT in pass blocking. recognizing this CJ drops (knowing that one of the LBs will pick up the RB if he goes out for a dump off) Jefferson runs out of real estate and runs up the left sideline, seeing that the MLB #30 passes Jefferson off and goes to cover the RB. Jefferson does a great job of recognizing that Burrow broke the pocket and accordingly broke off his route into a pseudo "comeback" route to pick up the first down and a gain of 12. Henderson was looking to prevent the deep pass as he's the only man between Jefferson & the endzone, while allowing the catch & first down isn't ideal, it's preferable to getting beat deep and allowing LSU to tie up the game. [eventually if a play drags on this long coverage will break down, if the pass rush doesn't hit home, this happens]

Q3: 1:31 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up at RCB in man coverage on the boundary side head up (no shade) against Chase:
Chase runs a post route, Henderson is on him like glue in coverage, and the FS in "robber" drops and knocks away the pass (should've been picked to be honest). Great coverage by Henderson on this play. 

Q4: 13:43 - 2nd & 8 - Henderson is lined up at LCB in man coverage 2 yards off the L.O.S. on the boundary side with an inside shade against Chase:
Chase runs a scat route, Henderson reads it perfectly and swats the pass down out of Chase's hands. great coverage and recognition by Henderson. 

Q4: 5:45 - 1st & 10 - Henderson is lined up at LCB on the boundary side in "brackets" (LSU motions their RB outside the numbers and the Gator LB follows, Henderson is now on the inside of the bracket and responsible for anything in towards the hashes/middle of the field, the LB has anything out towards the sideline and the SS is responsible for anything deep):
Chase & the RB cross with the Rb cutting in front & Chase cutting behind to run a fade down the the right sideline. The LB blows his assignment and follows the RB a few steps too far as he cuts in, Henderson plays the in to start the play (you can tell by his shade) and realizing that the LB isnt covering Chase, goes to cover him realizing the coverage is blown; the LB realizes his mental lapse and goes back to cover the "out" of Chase but in doing so picks/bumps Henderson and effectively takes him out of the play, the SS has his eyes on the CB & then the RB but realizes too late that Chase is breaking free deep and doesn't have the angle to stop Chase's speed from scoring & effectively icing the game late in the quarter. the 2nd TD this game that was "allowed" by Henderson where he was betrayed by the other defender in the bracket coverage.


Takeaways:
+Great Play Recognition
+Great Speed & Athleticism
-Poor Tackling
=Seems to prefer playing on the boundary side as opposed to the field side (makes sense given his tackling)


All in all, he did a fantastic job covering the best WR in college football for most of the night. He plays withhin his scheme and does his job, and has the awareness & play recognition to help out and make stops on guys that aren't even his assignments; before he commits to helping out a different assignment he seems to make sure that his responsibility is taken care of, he doesn't freelance the way the Jags DB's did last year which led to a lot of busted coverages and big plays. This guy is very clearly the 2nd best cornerback in this draft with a bright future. He reminds me a lot of a young Rashean Mathis who was another guy with great coverage skills, play recognition, awareness, and also poor tackling. I think we got a good one and anyone saying that he's a "reach" or a bad pick is speaking in hyperbole because it's just not true and the tape doesn't lie.... this kid is good. 

As far as it being a reach/opportunity cost of the other guys available ... I'll be honest, I wanted an OT specifically Andrew Thomas, but with him gone I thought Jedrick Wills & Wirfs are more RT's & we JUST drafted Jawaan Taylor last year who I think is every bit as good as those 2 guys and it was highway robbery for us to get him in round 2 last year; Becton's failed drug test coupled with him being 360 scared me but I can't deny his athleticism. With Simmonds off the board I think it was an easy decision to take CJ Henderson (after the medical issue was flagged with Jerry Jeudy's knee I didn't want a WR, this draft is too deep at that position & Gandy-Golden aka: a Ceedee Lamb clone, Pittman etc. all being available means selecting one in the first isn't good value, we can get first premium talent there into the top of the 4th round)

If you guys have any questions about the plays i'm describing let me know, if you like Firesky's Filmroom & want to see more I welcome your feedback and while I make no guarantees i'm open to taking requests if my time allows for it. Hope you all really enjoyed this edition & I hope we get a similarly talented player as Henderson on Day 2 today. GO JAGS!!! DUUUUUUUVVVVVAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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