Scouting Profile: Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
Another supremely talented cornerback prospect from Tuscaloosa who will challenge for the first defensive player taken in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Height: 5’11 6/8”
Weight: 189lbs
Class: R-Sophomore
NFL Comparison: A blend of Trevon Diggs and A.J. Terrell
One of those "I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to find anything bad to say about him"-type of prospects, Terrion Arnold came to Tuscaloosa as a top-5 recruit at the safety position, but made the switch to cornerback after redshirting as a freshman in 2021.
It wasn’t exactly as smooth a sail as the end result might have you belief. In fact, Arnold was benched at one point in his redshirt freshman season in 2022.
So how’d he respond to that?
Writing down "I will not let that happen again" every single day since that benching; and
Turning that daily promise into being named a Freshman All-American at the end of that season, and then a First Team All-American in 2023.
Standing just under 6'0" and 189 lbs, Arnold has the size, length, athleticism, and twitch to run with the shiftier receivers and compete with the bigger receivers in the NFL. Leveraging those plus his very high football IQ and strong play recognition, he tied for the SEC lead with five interceptions, and his 17 passes defended (5 interceptions, 12 PBUs) were tied for the most in the league and were the fifth-most in the nation this past season. He even moonlighted at snaps in the STAR position (nickel cornerback) of Alabama’s defense last year1.
Arnold has quick feet, a smooth backpedal, very little wasted motion, outstanding body control, and strong eye discipline. In press coverage, he's highly adept at disrupting receivers' releases at the line of scrimmage. When the ball is in the air, you already see plenty of those "runs the route for the receiver" moments from him on film. His explosive short-area quickness2 enables him to drive downhill quickly to make plays on the ball, but also bait quarterbacks by playing off coverage and breaking on the arrival point like the Flash. He fights through the point of arrival, working to get the PBU.
The majority of the critiques in Arnold's game largely stem from the fact that he really has only two years of playing experience. Early on, he might be better off playing in a zone-based scheme than man coverage. He might need to refine some of his hand placement and footwork against receivers with craftier release packages. In coverage, he needs to further develop his footwork against shorter-area routes like curls and quick outs, and perhaps clean up his technique against deep passes. And while he was very effective at it in college, he can't get away with trying to bait quarterbacks to the same extent; NFL receivers will reel in those passes that the SEC receivers couldn't catch.
Overall, Arnold is an enormously talented and prospect with an exciting level of upside to be potentially realized. From an intangibles standpoint, he's a humble, coachable, intelligent, and well-spoken kid brings the energy and football instincts that coaches will love. He's very much in the mix to be not only the first defensive back taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, but perhaps the first defensive player taken in general. ■
The STAR position is a spot Saban most often entrusted to his top defensive back—guys like Dee Milliner, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Brian Branch all manned the spot in the past.
reinforced by an exceptional time of 6.65 seconds in the 3-cone drill