Just a month ago, three Clemson football players heard their names called in the 2025 NFL Draft. It was a dream come true for these three guys, but it was a light year for Dabo Swinney's draft pool.
It may seem to the casual observer that Clemson just doesn't have as much NFL talent as it used to, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The Tigers have some elite NFL prospects on the roster and they just opted to return for another season to take care of some unfinished business.
Cade Klubnik is considered the No. 1 quarterback in the country and he'll be an option to go No. 1 overall in next year's draft. The same could be said for Peter Woods and TJ Parker who are also projected first-round picks next season and I've see the same said for star wideout Antonio Williams. Clemson currently has 3-4 players who are projected as the best at their positions in the draft class.
Klubnik is one, Woods and Parker are two and three, but who's the fourth? Avieon Terrell.
The junior cornerback had a monster 2024-25 season, recording 58 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions, and 12 pass breakups. He also just made the number switch this offseason from No. 20 to No. 8 which, in my opinion, looks even cleaner on the cornerback.
Heading into the 2025 season, some draft experts have him pegged as the "CB1" in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Yes, Avieon is the younger brother of former All-Pro cornerback AJ Terrell of the Atlanta Falcons who has carved out a nice career for himself after his Clemson days. He, too, was a first-round talent and was drafted No. 16 overall in 2020, but he was the CB3 behind Jeff Okudah and CJ Henderson. However, he has had the best career out of the bunch so far.
Avieon has a chance to be the first cornerback off the board in 2026 and join his brother in the NFL as one of the best young lockdown defensive backs in the league.
If Terrell lives up to the hype in 2025, Clemson will be hoisting some trophies.