When the Atlanta Falcons traded up to draft Julio Jones with the sixth overall pick in 2011, no Falcons fans will debate how much that changed the direction of the Falcons franchise and the Falcons offense. Julio Jones and Matt Ryan put up historic numbers during their time together as Falcons, and obviously lead the Falcons to just their second ever Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
However, it seems like the Falcons have another absolute stud on their hands who will also break records if he stays on the trajectory he’s on now. The Atlanta Falcons drafted A.J. Terrell with the 16th overall pick back in 2020, and after allowing just 200 yards in 16 games last season, the fewest amount of yards of any cornerback in the NFL that was targeted more than 40 times and the second-fewest yards against any player who played more than 11 games, that pick now seems like a steal for the Atlanta Falcons.
Jon Chuckery posed this question during his show tonight: Is A.J. Terrell the best Atlanta Falcons draft pick since Julio Jones? Jon Chuckery thinks so, and he explained why on The Jon Chuckery Show Thursday night.
The first way to figure this out is to first see who has been drafted between the 2011 draft where Julio Jones was drafted, and the 2020 draft where A.J. Terrell was drafted. Between the 2011 and the 2020 drafts the Falcons have notably drafted Desmond Trufant, Jake Matthews, Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett, Keanu Neal, Deion Jones, De'Vondre Campbell, Calvin Ridley, Foyesade Oluokun, Chris Lindstrom, and Kaleb McGary.
When you see those names, and initially ask yourself if any of those players are better than A.J. Terrell right now what do you say? You’re probably saying no right now. Now, there are definitely arguments you could make for Grady Jarrett and Chris Lindstrom, but think about it like this A.J. Terrell’s numbers and play on the field support him being the second best cornerback in the NFL behind only Jalen Ramsey. Pro Football Focus even had Terrell graded as the second best corner in the league last season behind Jalen Ramsey and put him on their All-Pro 1st team.
Are Grady Jarrett and Chris Lindstrom the second best at their respective positions? Grady and Chris are both very high up on their respective lists for sure, and Chris could be the second best or best guard in the league one day, but right now he’s not and A.J. Terrell is the second best corner in the NFL right now.
The numbers that have been listed are impressive on their own, but what makes what A.J. Terrell is doing only two years into his NFL career extra special is the fact that he had those numbers on a Falcons team that was the second worst defensive team overall in the league last year, 29th in points allowed, 26th in yards allowed, and by far the worst pass rushing team in the NFL last year with only 18 sacks, and the second worst pass rushing team last season, the Philadelphia Eagles, had eleven more sacks with 29.
With the worst pass rush in the league last year A.J. Terrell had to cover for a long time during plays, but somehow still managed to allow the lowest passer and completion rating in the league last year according to Pro Football Focus at 47.5% and 43.9%. Again, A.J. Terrell is doing all of this just two years into his NFL career at the cornerback position that is one of the harder positions to transition to when making that jump from college to the NFL. A.J. Terrell is the best Atlanta Falcons draft pick since Julio Jones, and the numbers show it’s really not even a discussion.