Atlanta Falcons: 3 Early breakout candidates on defense for 2020

3. A.J. Terrell

One of the areas of great need for Atlanta going into the offseason and leading up to the 2020 campaign came at the back end of the defense, most notably the cornerback position.

For the past few years, the Falcons have had the likes of Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant and others leading that unit in the back of the defensive group. But with Trufant leaving the organization this offseason, that opened up at least one spot for someone to step into when the new season begins.

Part of Atlanta’s work in shoring up that spot at cornerback came with its first selection in the 2020 NFL Draft when it picked Clemson cornerback A.J. Terrell at No. 16 overall in the first round.

With the selection of Terrell, the process of trying to fill that void at cornerback is underway, as the young defensive back will immediately have a chance to step in and produce during his rookie campaign in 2020.

Although some people viewed the selection of Terrell in the middle of the first round as somewhat of a reach for the Falcons, there is no doubt that Atlanta needed to pick a cornerback with that selection and it perhaps had Terrell high on its draft board.

Terrell is a lengthy player who has the ability to hold opposing wide receivers in check as a lockdown corner. He is also a speedy option out of the back end of the defense and provides the Falcons with another option when it comes to being able to blitz the quarterback.

During his three-year career at Clemson, Terrell finished his college career with 107 career tackles, 20 pass breakups, six interceptions and two forced fumbles over 1,800 total snaps in 44 games.

A lot of eyes will be on Terrell early on as he could potentially line up on the other side of the field to counter his new teammate in cornerback Isaiah Oliver right away to open the year. And the young defensive back could have a breakout campaign to get his professional career off to a hot start.