Jaguars draft speedy Florida CB Henderson with 9th pick

The Jacksonville Jaguars chose speedy Florida cornerback CJ Henderson with the ninth overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night, expecting him to help replace departed starters Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye.

Jacksonville believes Henderson has a chance to be as good as, maybe even better than, Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah. Detroit selected Okudah with the third overall pick.

Henderson was a three-year starter at Florida and led the team with 11 pass breakups last season despite missing several games with an ankle injury. He also skipped the team’s bowl game to prepare for the draft.

He should be a plug-and-play starter in Jacksonville, which had a huge need at the position. General manager Dave Caldwell traded Ramsey last October and Bouye last month.

They tried to sign Cincinnati cornerback Darqueze Dennard in free agency, but he failed his physical. That left them with former undrafted free agent Tre Herndon and journeyman Rashaan Melvin as the team's projected starters at the position.

The Jaguars are scheduled to pick again at No. 20 in the opening round, one of the selections they got from the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Ramsey.

Jacksonville has numerous needs, with defensive line and receiver being the most pressing.

Caldwell traded defensive end Calais Campbell to Baltimore last month and opted not to keep defensive tackle Marcell Dareus in a salary cap-saving move. Jacksonville also could lose disgruntled pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. The team placed the franchise tag on Ngakoue, guaranteeing him about $18 million this season, but the defender has no plans to sign it as he continues to demand a trade.

The Jags signed five defensive players in free agency, but three of them are stop-guy roster-fillers on one-year deals.

On the other side of the ball, the Jags released oft-injured receiver Marqise Lee earlier this week to create nearly $5 million in cap space. The move left them with budding standout DJ Chark and three other receivers entering the final year of their contracts: Chris Conley, Dede Westbrook and Keelan Cole.