2026 NFL Scouting Report: Avieon Terrell

Avieon Terrell, 5-11/180
Cornerback
Clemson

Avieon Terrell Prospect Preview

By Charlie Campbell

Career Recap:

Clemson enjoyed a great career from cornerback A.J. Terrell. After impressing with the Tigers, Terrell was a first-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons and has turned into a very good pro. With that pedigree, there were big expectations and excitement for Avieon Terrell to turn into a good player for Clemson. Terrell worked his way onto the field as a freshman and had five starts. He recorded 19 tackles with four passes broken up and an interception. In 2024, Terrell started every game and totaled 58 tackles with two interceptions, 12 passes broken up, three forced fumbles, and 4.5 tackles for a loss.

2025 Season Outlook:

Terrell will see some excellent wide receiver talent with future pro competitors when he takes on LSU in Week 1 (Aug 30). Other good games to watch Terrell include Florida State (Nov. 8), Louisville (Nov. 14), and South Carolina (Nov. 29).

Prospect Summary:

In the passing-driven NFL, teams are always looking for cornerbacks who can play man coverage and shut down pro receivers. Some teams feel that some corners aren’t a good fit for man coverage and that limits the schemes and teams those players can play for. With tremendous man coverage skills, Terrell looks like a future asset as a man-to-man cover corner in the NFL.

Terrell is a superb cornerback to run the route and prevent separation. In off-man coverage or press-man coverage, Terrell is very fast and has easy speed to run with wideouts and carry verticals down the field. Terrell is extremely loose, has zero stiffness, and is a very twitchy cornerback. With tremendous agility, Terrell can flip his hips and turn to stay in phase with receivers. When he is in off-man coverage, he shows impressive instincts to read the route and then explode to cover up the receiver after they make their break. Terrell is not strong enough to reroute NFL receivers in press man, but he has no problem turning and running with them downfield, blanketing them and not allowing them to get open.

Terrell’s excellent speed, twitchy athleticism, and instincts make him an excellent zone corner. He reads plays well and shows good vision for diagnosing routes while also reading the eyes of the quarterback. Terrell’s twitch lets him explode to eat up ground and cover up receivers. He is very natural in zone coverage.

The big knock on Terrell for the NFL is his size. While he is a little shorter than ideal, Terrell’s weight is a bigger concern, and he is listed at only 180 pounds. Terrell plays stronger than his listed numbers, and he is a willing tackler. Terrell will fly downhill and into the backfield to make tackles, throwing his shoulder into ball carriers. Terrell also battles receivers hard, and he has very good ball skills. He times his breakups extremely well to smack the ball out. While Terrell is not tall or big, he battles receivers really well on 50-50 passes and has a knack for winning with a pass breakup. Terrell has impressive ball skills and is a threat to pick off passes. He is also very instinctive and ball aware to break out a “Peanut Punch” on ball carriers and strip them of the ball.

Given his size, there will be some concerns with durability and tackling at the pro level. However, Terrell looks like a future starter, and he could be a valuable cover corner.