4 Carolina Panthers on the hot seat in Week 12 vs. Broncos
By Dean Jones
C.J. Henderson – Carolina Panthers CB
It’s getting tiresome writing about C.J. Henderson‘s constant underachievement. But the Carolina Panthers need to face up to the fact that they might not ever get a consistent tune out of the cornerback.
There was an enormous sense of intrigue when the Panthers traded a third-round pick and tight end Dan Arnold to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Henderson and a fifth-rounder. He was integrated slowly onto the rotation in 2021 with a view to more involvement this time around, but the production has yet to justify the confidence shown in him by Matt Rhule and the front office.
Henderson was picked apart by the Baltimore Ravens once again last weekend. When Lamar Jackson needed a big play or to move the chains, he targeted the former Florida standout heavily with great rewards.
The main beneficiary of this was Demarcus Robinson, who had his way with Henderson almost from start to finish en route to a career afternoon. Something that won’t have gone unnoticed by the likes of Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton ahead of Week 12.
The 2020 first-round selection is giving up 77.6 percent of targets thrown his way and currently possesses a lowly 50.2 grade from Pro Football Focus for his efforts this season to date. Time is running out for Henderson to carve out a prolific future for himself, so he must fight for everything against the Denver Broncos in pursuit of shifting some increasing doubts about his performance levels.