Clemson Football: A.J. Terrell goes sky high; selected by Atlanta Falcons
Former Clemson football CB A.J. Terrell was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The returns on Clemson football CB A.J. Terrell were all over the place heading into the 2020 NFL Draft, but the Falcons made a major statement Thursday night during the first-round of the big event.
Terrell, who many considered to be a fringe first-rounder, was selected by the Falcons with the No. 16 overall pick.
Terrell received much criticism- especially from Clemson football fans- about his performance in the National Championship game in January. He certainly had a rough night and was not able to keep LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase from absolutely going off.
However, once many went back and reevaluated the film, there were several analysts who noticed the fact that Terrell was in position, but that the throws were just simply perfect.
After an impressive showing at the 2020 NFL Combine and a look at his total body of work in terms of film, Terrell began to ascend up NFL Draft boards and began to be considered one of the top cornerbacks in the draft class.
All of that came to fruition Thursday night when he was selected by the Falcons No. 16 overall and the third cornerback taken off the board.
Analysis:
It is great to see a former Clemson football player go this high. Terrell was only considered a third-rounder in many early NFL Mock Drafts, but continued to ascend up boards.
The Falcons likely could’ve traded back in the first-round and gotten Terrell later, but they elected to take him right there in the middle of the first-round and that says a lot about how much the franchise is sold on Terrell becoming the guy.
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Terrell will have a learning curve stepping up into the next level, for sure, but there’s no reason to believe that he can’t become one of the most consistent cornerbacks in the NFL and prove to be a great pick-up for Atlanta during his career.