Jerry Jones went on a talk show and issued a very blunt admission.
“We can’t have any redshirts. We can’t afford to have any redshirts. A player that you’re putting stock in at a certain time that’s recovering from a college injury relative to a draft—you’ll see less of that this year.”
Jones wants impact players who can extract impact from the first snap of Week 1. Moreover, he wants them to help the Cowboys push toward a championship right away.
For those reasons, Clemson’s Avieon Terrell sounds like the perfect fit for the Dallas Cowboys at pick No. 20.
Terrell’s Terrific Career at Clemson
First things first, if the surname sounds familiar, Avieon is the younger brother of Falcons corner AJ Terrell. Just like AJ, Avieon played his high school ball at Westlake High in Georgia and committed to Clemson; for Avieon that decision took place in June of 2022. In his freshman year, he got his feet wet with four pass deflections and his first college interception, coming in a 42-21 win against Georgia Tech. This laid a great foundation for Terrell to build on, and he did so promptly.
His sophomore year served as his coming-out party. He finished the year with two interceptions, three forced fumbles and an ACC joint second-best 12 pass deflections. His efforts solidified him as the leader of an ACC-winning secondary. Additionally, they put him on the radar of many draft experts.
He followed this up with a very solid 2025. Although he couldn’t bring in a single interception, Terrell still had nine pass deflections to his name. Perhaps more impressively, however, was that he led the entire ACC in forced fumbles with five, playing from the cornerback spot.
At the end of a very respectable career with the Tigers, Terrell declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Tale Of Terrell
Avieon Terrell is described as a quick, ball-hungry competitor. One of his best traits is his ability to make plays on the ball, as evidenced more so by his forced fumble numbers than his interception numbers. However, he can make the traditional corner plays on the ball just fine — if this play is considered “traditional”:
At Clemson, Terrell has played top-level competition, so the transition to the NFL will be that much easier for him. He’s got very good speed, clocking in a 4.42 40-yard dash during the NFL combine. Lastly, as good as he is in coverage, he grades even better as a run defender, a huge plus for any back end.
Now, the detractions. At 5-foot-11, Terrell isn’t the smallest in the world, but coupling that with him being 180 pounds creates a problem against bigger matchups. His missed tackle percentage raised some alarm bells in his final year, coming in at 14.5%. He’s also got a tendency to grab on when losing a matchup.
All in all, like every draft prospect, Terrell’s got good and bad. However, does the good outweigh the bad for Dallas to take him at No. 20? Will he even be there?
Terrell to the Dallas Cowboys?
To answer the previous questions, yes and probably so.
Let’s start with the first one. While Terrell is physically limited in areas, his ability to play the ball and stick to his man are not negated by that fact. Christian Parker, the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, played a huge part in the development of Quinyon Mitchell, a corner who had similar concerns (and upside) to Terrell. Voters named Mitchell to the All-Pro team this year, so Parker definitely got the most out of him — there’s zero reason why he couldn’t with Terrell, too.
Now, will he be there? That’s a different story. Mock drafts, such as ESPN’s through Mel Kiper, have Terell available at No. 20. Some, like Nate Tice and Charles McDonald of Yahoo Sports, have him gone before then. LSU’s Mansoor Delane is the consensus CB1 in this year’s draft, and plenty of teams need CB help, so that plays a factor as well. However, it’s truly an unknown until draft day what any team will do — outside the No. 1 pick, really.
If Terrell is there, however, Dallas would be wise to snag him. He’s exactly what Jerry Jones needs— someone who doesn’t need to be redshirted and can make an impact immediately.
In other words, Avieon Terrell makes sense for Dallas at pick No. 20.
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