Florida’s Secondary Has Potential For Elite Status

The Florida Gators are looking forward to a great year from their secondary. They have two great returning defensive backs returning in CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson.

Gators Two Stars

Marco Wilson is looking to bounce back from a torn ACL he suffered in the second game last year against Kentucky. He said he is ready to go right now, and is back to 100%.

Wilson had a great 2017 season. In 2017, he had 34 total tackles, 21 solo tackles, 13 assist tackles, and 10 passes defended. The August 24th opener against Miami is going to be a special one for Wilson. The Gators are facing off against his hometown team Miami Hurricanes, the team his dad played for in the early 1990s.

Florida cornerback CJ Henderson is also looking to have a monster year. Last season, he finished as one of the top rated cornerbacks in the entire nation. Henderson appeared and started in all 13 games last season.

He made a major impact last season. Henderson totaled 38 tackles, five tackles-for-loss, three sacks, two interceptions, team-high seven pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Accolades

After being named Preseason Second-Team All-SEC, he earned Coaches’ All-SEC Second-Team honors and Athlon Sports Third-Team All-SEC accolades following the season. The Gators secondary lead the nation in fourth quarter opponent passing efficiency (66.25) and ranked second nationally in fourth quarter opponent completion percentage (40.5).

Florida cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray spoke yesterday about his group, specifically his two stars, CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson:

The Request

CJ Henderson texted Head Coach Dan Mullen this offseason with a request to wear No. 1. Wide Receiver Kadarius Toney also texted Mullen with the same request, where Mullen finally gave in.

Head coach Dan Mullen felt like the two had earned the right to wear No. 1, and rekindle the number. No player has worn No. 1 since Vernon Hargreaves wore it in 2015, because they felt no one since had deserved it.