Despite not having a first-round pick, the Atlanta Falcons still managed to snag themselves a top-20 talent by taking Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell at No. 48.
Of course, this means a family reunion in the Falcons' secondary. But it also means they got a fighter who will do anything it takes to get the football back to the offense. Watch his tape for five seconds, and you will see it.
And if you don't trust your own eyes, then trust the assessment of a National Championship-winning head coach who had the privilege to work with him the past few years. Dabo Swinney went on 92.9 The Game to discuss his former star CB, and he made sure to give his guy a ringing endorsement.
"This guys is a fighter. He will claw your eyeballs out," Swinney said.... "A high level competitor. He loves to blitz. A turnover machine and heavy-handed on the ball."
That is why I will continue to say that the younger Terrell is the perfect Jeff Ulbrich player; the player and coach were always meant to work together.
Dabo Swinney's praise for Avieon Terrell makes the Falcons look even better
The Falcons were up against the wall without a first-round pick. However, to their credit, they remained patient and let the board fall to them. And they landed a top 5 cornerback who fits their team better than anyone in the draft (and later landed a top WR talent).
When Dabo says that his former starter will "claw your eyeballs out," he isn't kidding. Avieon forced eight fumbles -- five last season -- because of his furious, unwavering attacks on the football.
The other piece that sticks out is that he "loves to blitz." We saw last season how blitz-happy Ulbrich can be. Part of the production came from the secondary as Dee Alford had two sacks and Billy Bowman Jr. had 1.5.
He is undoubtedly planning on improving on the 3.5 sacks generated from the cornerback position. Now he has a corner who not only loves to do it, but will attack the ball out of the quarterback's hand.
All of this is reminiscent of when the Falcons took Grady Jarrett in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Jarrett fell to the fifth round because of his size, but Dabo wasn't buying it. He made it clear that the local team got a steal on the final day of the draft. And suffice it to say I think he was correct!
Avieon is in a similar boat; he fell because of his relatively slight stature and disappointing testing numbers (after tweaking his hamstring during the 40). However, we have seen how misleading those things can be. And with Swinney's words, I get the feeling Avieon is the next example of that.
Add us as a preferred source on Google