Packers Take Corner Who ‘Could Potentially Start’ as Rookie in Kiper’s Mock

The Green Bay Packers have short- and long-term problems at corner.

Their two primary starters last season, Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, combined for one interception in the regular season. By and large, they weren’t good enough, especially in key moments.

In free agency, the Packers signed Benjamin St-Juste. He is the only cornerback under contract beyond the upcoming season.

Added together, corner is a big need, which ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. addressed in his two-round mock draft by selecting Avieon Terrell of Clemson.

“Terrell is dealing with a hamstring injury at the moment, but he is a consistent man-to-man corner with plenty of speed,” Kiper explained. “He makes plays on the ball, and he had eight forced fumbles over the past two seasons, including five in 2025. He could potentially start for the Packers in Year 1.”

The hamstring injury showed up in woeful testing numbers.

Avieon Terrell is a CB prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 4.94 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1554 out of 3069 CB from 1987 to 2026.

He injured his hamstring after his second 40 and did not complete testing.https://t.co/qDUnaJW0fN pic.twitter.com/BL99QWy98H
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 7, 2026

At 5-foot-11 1/4, he’s more in the mold of Nixon and Valentine from a size perspective than he is to St-Juste, who is 6-foot-3.

Terrell certainly has the genes. His brother is Atlanta Falcons standout A.J. Terrell.

“We both dawgs,” Avieon Terrell said at the Scouting Combine. “I tell him all the time, I want the ball more. We have battles in the summer, who going to get the ball more? So, I feel like I get the ball more than him.”

Is that true?

In three seasons at Clemson, Avieon Terrell posted four sacks, nine tackles for losses, three interceptions, 25 pass breakups and eight forced fumbles.

A.J. Terrell also played three seasons at Clemson. He posted a half-sack, 3.5 tackles for losses, six interceptions, 14 pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Avieon Terrell had two interceptions and three forced fumbles in 2024 and zero interceptions and five forced fumbles in 2025. PFF charged him with a 56.9 completion percentage in 2025 and 52.3 percent for his career. He was charged with three touchdowns this past season. He cut his penalty count from seven in 2024 to two in 2025.

Having followed in his brother’s footsteps, Terrell is used to pressure.

“I’m not scared of nothing,” he said at the Combine. “You know, I hear a lot of size things but, at the end of the day, I'm going there to make the tackle. So, that's my scouting report. I ain't scared of nobody.”

That was evident from an early age.

“I'll just say he's just a daredevil, bro,” A.J. Terrell told ESPN. “He just does stuff that I used to question. Certain things, I just say, getting on a roller coaster or swimming, jumping in the deep end. Football, basketball, any sport, he just had a knack for proving himself right and just going out with supreme confidence early and just having fun with stuff.”

Players at positions of need who were selected after Terrell include Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon, Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes, Illinois edge Gabe Jacas, Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks and Tennessee receiver Chris Brazzell II, who had a predraft visit.

More Mock Drafts

The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer posted a three-round mock on Wednesday morning. With Green Bay’s pick in the second round, the choice was Tennessee receiver Chris Brazzell II.

“The Packers need to replace Romeo Doubs with a big target for Jordan Love and can't sit on hoping Matthew Golden suddenly pans out to help Christian Watson,” he wrote.

Coming off a 1,000-yard season and with an elite combination of size and speed, Brazzell had a predraft visit with the Packers.

Illinois edge Gabe Jacas, linemen Emmanuel Pregnon of Oregon and Caleb Tiernan of Northwestern were among the next 10 picks.

The need at cornerback was addressed in the third round with Florida’s Devin Moore, who has great size at 6-foot-3 1/4. He had two interceptions in each of his final two seasons but has a long injury history. He played in 11 games last season; he didn’t play more than seven games in his first three.

Arkansas corner Julian Neal went a few picks later.

At Draft Sharks, longtime draft writer Shane Hallam has a seven-rounder. He took too-short Indiana corner D’Angelo Ponds in the second round before grabbing Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. in the third.

In the fourth round, Hallam stayed close to home with Notre Dame guard Billy Schrauth. The native of Campbellsport, Wis., was a second-team All-American in 2025 despite missing the final five games with an MCL injury.

“You realize how much you love the game. That’s No. 1,” he said at pro day. “Secondly, just having a mindset of coming back stronger, that’s huge. It’s like anything, when there’s adversity you can come back and you can be even better.”

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has a seven-round mock. We summed it up here.

CBS’s Josh Edwards went with defensive tackle Christen Miller, noting the Packers’ fondness for Georgia players.

And a few more that we posted on Tuesday, including the “perfect” pick for the Packers.

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