Strengths
Terrell has very good height while having poor weight at his size; he is long limbed, and has a n athletic frame with good athletic ability. This translates to good speed and very good hip fluidity for the Clemson cornerback. He has good mental processing when he is able to play in an underneath zone and splits routes very well when asked to play as a deep zone defender.
Very good line of scrimmage skills displaying excellent patience allowing him to use his very good lateral quickness to mirror releases. Loose hips and wingspan allow for him to stab and redirect in press coverage without stumbling or losing his receiver. Closes receivers to the sideline with good foot speed on vertical routes as he pins them to the sideline with ease.
Terrell is explosive when triggering in his click and close abilities, playing low with good balance that allows him to show his change of direction abilities both when driving down hill, or laterally out of his breaks from off coverage. Hip fluidity is excellent as he is able to flip his hips with ease and not lose a step on receivers in all phases of the route.
I’ll never forget the AJ Terrell pick 6 .... pic.twitter.com/8k8rJ9yVIj
— TigerTalk247 (@Tigertalk247) March 17, 2019
The Clemson cornerback has good ball skills due to his awareness of when to time his swats and jumps. He consistently uses his length to disrupt receivers at the catch point when tracking the ball. Loves to tackle and is more than willing to look to deliver a big hit on ball carriers.
Weaknesses
A.J. Terrell needs to add more weight to his frame and increase his play strength when trying to successfully shed blocks on the perimeter. He tends to fall in love with the big hit too often, causing him to be inconsistent in wrapping up on ball carriers.
Eye discipline when driving downhill on the football needs improvement so that he drives the receiver first before driving the ball. At times, Terrell looks unsure at times of whether he wants to drive on the ball or not which causes him to be a step late at times.