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Florida coach Dan Mullen added another first-round pick to his résumé Thursday in CJ Henderson, along with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray.
Mullen has now coached 12 first-round picks in his career — including a half dozen as a head coach — with Henderson going ninth overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Five of his Mississippi State players also went in the opening round, including last year’s trio of Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat and Jonathan Abram. Mullen produced Fletcher Cox (2012) and Derek Sherrod (2011) at MSU as well.
Six more players he coached as an offensive coordinator have been first-round picks, including Florida stars Percy Harvin (2009), Tim Tebow (2010), Maurkice Pouncey (2010) and Mike Pouncey (2010).
Mullen also coached a pair of No. 1 overall picks in quarterbacks Alex Smith (2005) and Cam Newton (2011), who played under him for two years at UF before transferring to Auburn.
Henderson is the 10th opening-round selection for Grantham as a defensive coordinator and his highest since Georgia’s Leonard Floyd was the ninth pick in 2018. Grantham produced two more first-rounders at UGA in 2013, linebackers Jarvis Jones and Alec Ogletree.
In addition to the MSU trio of Simmons, Sweat and Abram, Grantham had two players at Louisville — Jaire Alexander (2018) and Sheldon Rankins (2016) — as well as Michigan State defensive end Dimitrius Underwood (1999).
Henderson is the third first-round corner for Gray. He produced a pair of picks at Virginia Tech, Kyle Fuller (2014) and Terrell Edmunds (2018).
Henderson, Fuller and Edmunds are three of 18 defensive backs who've been drafted under Gray’s tutelage, including Pro Bowl selections Kam Chancellor and Brandon Flowers.