Clemson cornerback AJ Terrell was selected 16th overall in the 2020 NFL draft to his hometown Atlanta Falcons. To get another perspective on the pick and how he’ll fit in with the Falcons, we spoke with Kevin Knight, of The Falcoholic. Enjoy the Q&A and share your thoughts in the comments section below the article.

STS: CB Desmond Trufant was released this offseason, setting up the need to take an impact CB in this draft. As the Falcons demonstrated last year when their first two picks were offensive linemen, they like to address team needs early. Consequently, they used their first pick to take the best CB available. A portion of Falcons fans seem disappointed. Is that simply because they expected the draft class’s #2 rated CB, CJ Henderson, to fall to them? What were they hoping or expecting to happen once Henderson was off the table?

@FalcoholicKevin: The truth of the matter is that the fanbase was actually pretty split on whether or not CB was the team’s biggest need. Many of us—myself included—wanted DT Javon Kinlaw at 16, and when he went right before the pick, I think it disappointed a lot of fans. However, CB was definitely the biggest need overall. I don’t believe many thought C.J. Henderson would fall to 16. Instead, I think fans weren’t used to seeing A.J. Terrell in the first round and immediately labeled the pick a “reach.”

I hate the term reach because it’s incredibly subjective, but in truth Terrell was a bit lower on my board than some of the other available corners (I had Jeff Gladney, Kristian Fulton, and Jaylon Johnson ahead of him). At the same time, I recognize that the NFL had Terrell graded much higher than outside draft analysts. Was it the best “value” on the board? No, but nobody will care about that in a year if Terrell plays well.

STS: Terrell brings a great mix of speed and size at 6’1” with a 4.41 40-yard dash. He can stick with receivers in man coverage and, as demonstrated by his pick-six against Tua Tagovailoa in the national championship, is solid in zone defense too. That said, in other drafts with a stronger group of CBs, he may have been a second rounder. What are your thoughts on the pick?

@FalcoholicKevin: I believe the selection of A.J. Terrell was a good pick. It addressed the Falcons’ biggest need with a quality player. I definitely like Terrell as a prospect and mocked him to the Falcons twice over the course of the offseason, both times in the second round. Terrell’s traits clearly fit the prototype that Dan Quinn covets from his outside CBs: size, length, speed, and competitiveness. He checks all those boxes.

In truth, I don’t recall many other drafts with a stronger overall group of CBs. There weren’t a ton of absolute stars in the mold of Okudah, Jalen Ramsey, etc., but the depth was tremendous. In a weaker class, A.J. Terrell could’ve easily been the top option. I could easily see arguments for Jeff Gladney, Trevon Diggs, Jaylon Johnson, or Kristian Fulton over Terrell, but also plenty of arguments for why Terrell is the best pick. The Falcons value athleticism higher than most, so the pick makes total sense to me.

STS: With Trufant gone, I imagine AJ Terrell is well situated to immediately compete for the starting CB spot opposite Isaiah Oliver. How critical is Terrell’s immediate success to the Falcons’ 2020 fortunes and what are the expectations for his rookie season?

@FalcoholicKevin: Terrell stepping into a starting role is absolutely key for the Falcons defense in 2020. They simply don’t have any other plus options. The other starters are also fairly large coin-flips, as Isaiah Oliver struggled for much of 2019 as the CB2 and Kendall Sheffield only has a handful of (admittedly impressive) starts under his belt. I fully expect Terrell to start opposite Oliver in Week 1, because the alternatives are Blidi Wreh-Wilson (quality depth player, but he’s better as a spot starter) and Josh Hawkins (XFL standout with only 3 NFL starts to his name).

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Terrell supplants Oliver as the CB1 by the end of the 2020 season. As much as I loved Oliver coming out—and to be fair, he did improve measurably towards the end of 2019—I just haven’t seen anything to elevate him above a CB2 role at this point. Sheffield looked like a very good slot CB last season and I’d expect him to continue to thrive in that role this season. How quickly Terrell can transition to the NFL will be a huge storyline for the Falcons in 2020, but I’m confident he’ll be at least solid as a starter. If he’s better than that, Atlanta could actually have a good defense.

STS: Dan Quinn was an excellent defensive coordinator in Seattle before coming over to Atlanta, but the last few years the Falcons defenses have disappointed. A lot of that can be blamed on injuries, but not all of it. They finished 27th (2018) and 20th (2019) in yards per game allowed the past two seasons. What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the defense that Terrell is joining which may impact his ability to immediately succeed?

@FalcoholicKevin: The demise of the Falcons defense can absolutely be blamed on injuries in 2018. It was a truly horrific run of losses to the most important players in the unit, one after the other, and it was impossible to recover from. 2019 was a different story. Dan Quinn fired all three coordinators and took control of the defense himself, and it was an abject disaster. He should’ve been fired for it, if we’re being honest. But instead, Quinn realized his failure and handed the reins over to WRs coach Raheem Morris.

After Morris took over, things improved almost instantaneously. Heading into 2020, the biggest strength of the defense is probably the safety group—if Keanu Neal is healthy. The trio of Neal, Ricardo Allen, and Damontae Kazee is very good, and the team will probably try to deploy all three of them in the “big nickel.”

LB Deion Jones is a star in the middle, as is DT Grady Jarrett on the defensive line. Outside of those guys, it’s a lot of new faces. Their biggest weakness had previously been an inability to consistently rush the passer, but a ton of resources have been poured into that position this offseason. Now, however, the weakness looks to be the CB group. As mentioned before, it could either go pretty well, or it could be an abject disaster. Terrell’s performance as a starter on the outside will go a long way in determining that.

We owe a big thank you to Kevin Knight for taking time to answer our questions. We will have the other half of the Q&A up on The Falcoholic in the coming days.

Be sure to give Kevin a follow on Twitter at @FalcoholicKevin. Obviously, you can no longer be a Panthers fan since they passed on Isaiah Simmons so why you follow @TheFalcoholic too.