Following another 7-9 finish in 2019, the Atlanta Falcons had no choice but to make drastic changes to their roster in order to remain competitive.
That meant moving on from Austin Hooper, De’Vondre Campbell, Desmond Trufant, Devonta Freeman and Vic Beasley, while the team brought in Dante Fowler Jr., Todd Gurley and Hayden Hurst as replacements.
Despite the Falcons’ free agent and trade acquisitions, the team will be relying heavily on its young talent to step up in 2020. The player under the most pressure this season might be rookie cornerback A.J. Terrell, Atlanta’s first-round pick out of Clemson.
Terrell had a great season, but a bad performance in the National Championship game against LSU has somewhat overshadowed what he accomplished last year.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar examined this in a feature highlighting one defining statistic for each first-round pick. Here’s what he wrote about Terrell:
A.J. Terrell, CB, Atlanta Falcons: 18
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn likes his cornerbacks big and aggressive, and Terrell, the Clemson alum, fits that description. Some debited him for his performance in last season’s College Football Championship, when he allowed five receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns. But through the rest of the 2019 season, Terrell allowed just 18 catches for 244 yards and one touchdown. The Falcons obviously hope they’re getting the Terrell who excelled up to his final collegiate game.
Falcons fans are all too familiar with the way a bad performance in a big game can overshadow everything else that has been accomplished.
Terrell will have his work cut out for him starting as a rookie this season, but the overwhelming majority of evidence suggests he will be up for the challenge.
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