vike daddy Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 The wait was worth it for Mekhi Blackmon. The cornerback out of USC didn't mind becoming the final pick of the third round to conclude Friday's activity in the 2023 NFL Draft because the destination was so desired. About four hours after the night began, and well after Minnesota was initially on the clock at 87, the Vikings tabbed Blackmon with the 102nd overall selection after trading down with San Francisco. Blackmon: "I was waiting all night. I thought it was gonna come earlier, but you guys traded back. I kind of anticipated I was probably gonna come to you guys – just praying and wishing I would. I took my visit out there, and I fell in love with the facilities and the coaching staff, so I was hoping I would land in Minnesota." https://www.vikings.com/news/mekhi-blackmon-jordan-addison-usc-nfl-draft excellent news to find out he preferred the Vikings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 Blackmon has balanced athletics and academics throughout his collegiate career. He currently is pursuing his master's degree at USC in gerontology, the scientific study of aging and its effects on medical treatment and well-being. https://www.vikings.com/news/mekhi-blackmon-nfl-draft-5-things-to-know smart dude in the house. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle2heaven Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 Compared to consensus, I think the Blackmon selection was/is the most heavily scrutinized pick. Let's look at some of the CBs still on the board when they made the Blackmon pick at 102 Jakorian Bennett - went 104, consensus ranked 119. Kelee Ringo - went 105, ranked 38th Clark Phillips - went 113, ranked 65th Darius Rush - went 138, ranked 80th So when they were on the clock, I thought it was going to be either Rush or Bennett with the pick. Ringo i felt like was off their board, and Phillips projected to strictly inside at the next level. Thinking about it more, seems like they skipped on Rush as they have Akayleb, who profiles pretty similar to Rush. Blackmon has better tape then Bennett, but Bennett tested as a more superior athlete. In my shadow draft, I went Rush in that spot. Happy to be proven wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle2heaven Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 This was Blackmon's worst game in 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle2heaven Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 A Blackmon thought. If you watch Blackmon and you kinda know what you should be looking for, you'll notice a couple of different things. 1. His technique needs work. 2. Even though his technique needs work, he's incredibly sticky to his man; and shows an innate ability to somehow recover, if he loses initially. I normally dont want my corner turning around to find his receiver as much as Blackmon does, but somehow, someway, he ends up where he needs to be before the ball arrives. He's like Houdini, lol. So technique is teachable. If Flores really prides himself on development, I can see why he has Blackmon rated high. To be sticky is sometimes something you have, or you don't have. If they can clean up his back pedal, clean up the footwork and hand grabbing, he has the chance to be really consistent. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle2heaven Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 This is cool. From prior to 2021 season for all underrated team https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-all-underrated-2021-college-football-team CB: Mekhi Blackmon, Colorado Blackmon transferred to Colorado before the 2018 season after one year at the College of San Mateoand served in a limited role in his first season with the Buffaloes. He began 2019 as a starting outside corner but played in only four games before being shut down for the year with an injury. He came back fully healthy in 2020 and had a breakout year, starting all six of Colorado’s games and allowing the lowest catch rate of any outside cornerback in the Pac-12. He also tied for first among that same group in forced incompletion rate. And he accomplished that despite playing a fairly high rate of press-man coverage. Blackmon played press-man coverage on roughly 29% of his coverage snaps in 2020. On the 10 targets he saw on those plays, Blackmon allowed no catches while forcing four incompletions. His grade on those plays trailed only LSU’s Eli Ricks for the best in the Power Five. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/5/2023 at 9:11 AM, battle2heaven said: Compared to consensus, I think the Blackmon selection was/is the most heavily scrutinized pick. Let's look at some of the CBs still on the board when they made the Blackmon pick at 102 Jakorian Bennett - went 104, consensus ranked 119. Kelee Ringo - went 105, ranked 38th Clark Phillips - went 113, ranked 65th Darius Rush - went 138, ranked 80th So when they were on the clock, I thought it was going to be either Rush or Bennett with the pick. Ringo i felt like was off their board, and Phillips projected to strictly inside at the next level. Thinking about it more, seems like they skipped on Rush as they have Akayleb, who profiles pretty similar to Rush. Blackmon has better tape then Bennett, but Bennett tested as a more superior athlete. In my shadow draft, I went Rush in that spot. Happy to be proven wrong! Blackmon is also an older prospect. I think Bennett would've been a better pick. He's the only pick I didn't care for much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle2heaven Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 8 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: Blackmon is also an older prospect. I think Bennett would've been a better pick. He's the only pick I didn't care for much. Bennett turns 23 in august, so he's basically just 1 year older then Blackmon. Not too much of a difference there, especially with the covid year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 13 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: Blackmon is also an older prospect. he turned 24 a few months ago. and has five years of experience playing college ball in three different programs. is that worse than a 22 year old with three years experience at one school, which is more typical? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 6 hours ago, vike daddy said: he turned 24 a few months ago. and has five years of experience playing college ball in three different programs. is that worse than a 22 year old with three years experience at one school, which is more typical? It depends. The concern with age is that some players max out in college and don't develop well in the NFL. This isn't always the case, though. I'd say Blackmon's last year at USC was very beneficial to him though. I doubt he even gets drafted if we go by what he did just at Colorado. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 (edited) Already getting some reps on the 1st team... Edited June 9, 2023 by swede700 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking Posted June 25, 2023 Share Posted June 25, 2023 Starter week 1 imo I think he's gonna get his hands on the ball a lot as a rookie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted June 26, 2023 Share Posted June 26, 2023 Because of the difficulty of the position, it's not all that common that rookie corners are able to earn a starting job right away unless they were selected near the top of the draft. Blackmon, who was the 102nd overall pick, doesn't fit that criteria. But compared to the typical third-round corner, he has a few things working in his favor as he prepares for his first NFL training camp. An obvious one is the lack of proven talent in the Vikings' young CB room. Outside of clear No. 1 Byron Murphy Jr., there's no one in that group with more than four NFL starts. Blackmon also isn't a typical NFL rookie. He spent six seasons at the college level, going from JuCo College of San Mateo to four years at Colorado to one final season at USC. He's already 24 years old, meaning he's older than fourth-year teammate Justin Jefferson. Blackmon has played a lot of football, which theoretically helps with the transition to the next level. Blackmon had an excellent final collegiate season, earning a 90.6 PFF grade with three interceptions, 12 total passes defended, and two tackles for loss during his lone campaign at USC. He's a little undersized at 5'11", 178, but he's a twitchy, explosive athlete who has a quick first step. The Vikings were drawn to Blackmon's stickiness in coverage and his playmaking abilities. Blackmon: "I would say I got acclimated real quick. Just overstudying, working with coach Daronte Jones and them, I feel like they got me ready already." https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/vikings-rookie-mekhi-blackmon-on-track-start-corner-week-1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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