Jaguars cornerback Tre Herndon was an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt in 2018, and he had just 86 snaps in his rookie campaign. He’d already had 121 snaps through the first four weeks of the 2019 season, and the main reason for that is that he’s been Jalen Ramsey’s replacement as Ramsey goes through various injuries while demanding a trade away from his current team. Herndon has been exposed in coverage, which one would expect in comparison with Ramsey, one of the league’s best cornerbacks.
Still, when it comes to the most surprising (and perhaps embarrassing) play of his young NFL career, it may well be this Christian McCaffrey touchdown run during Week 5’s Jacksonville-Carolina game. Not only did McCaffrey hurdle Herndon, he seemed to add a move in which he used Herndon’s shoulders as leverage to jump even higher.
It’s a good time to remember that McCaffrey is setting the pace at his position. Going into Week 5, the Panthers star leads the league in yards from scrimmage (629), rushing yards (411), and is now tied with Dalvin Cook and Todd Gurley behind only Mark Ingram in rushing touchdowns (five, Ingram now has six).
As for Herndon, he’s just going to have to grin and bear it. He’s far from the first NFL defender to be embarrassed by McCaffrey this season.
