Jacksonville Jaguars: 30 greatest players in franchise history

• 2x Pro Bowl (2004, 2006)
• 1x Second-Team All-Pro (2006)
• 329 tackles, 94 assists, 29.0 quarterback sacks in Jaguars uniform
• Half of “Hurricane Henderstroud”

There was a six-year tropical storm along the Jaguars defensive line from 2002 to 2007. It was known as “Hurricane Henderstroud”. Forming the dynamic defensive tackle duo were John Henderson and Marcus Stroud. The first of the two we’ll touch on here is Henderson.

Henderson was the Jaguars’ No. 9 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft out of Tennessee. He had already been a two-time consensus All-American playing for Phillip Fulmer’s Vols in the SEC. Let’s just say that the partnership of he and Stroud would work marvelously for head coach Jack Del Rio and his defensive coordinator Mike Smith for years.

Henderson would be a two-time Pro Bowler with the Jaguars in 2004 and in 2006. In 2006, he would make the All-Pro second-team. The good times seemed like they were going to last forever. But after the 2007 NFL season, Stroud would be traded to the Buffalo Bills and Henderson’s productivity would falter.

He used to have a Jaguars assistant slap him in the face to get fired up for game days. However, his last two seasons did feature some uninspiring ball. Del Rio criticized him for possibly faking an injury so that he would hold up from camp in 2009. Regardless, that would be his last season down in Duval County.

Henderson played his final two years with the Oakland Raiders before retiring after the 2011 NFL season. He ended up with 329 tackles, 94 assists and 29.0 quarterback sacks in his eight years with the Jaguars.

“Hurricane Henderstroud” was a sight to behold in the 2000s. It helped Smith get a head coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons and Del Rio run the Jacksonville ship for nearly a decade.