Colts’ Julian Blackmon ranked among top-11 NFL safeties
Indianapolis Colts safety Julian Blackmon was ranked as the eighth-best safety in the NFL entering the 2021 season by Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire.
Despite being in the league for just one season, Blackmon made his presence felt early on during the 2020 campaign. He flashed versatility, athleticism and the ability to make plays all over the secondary.
“It’s rare for a rookie safety to immediately establish himself as a prime-time player, because the awareness required to play the position at the professional level usually takes time. But Blackmon, selected in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Utah, became just such a player, and he did it after Malik Hooker, who was projected as the Colts’ star deep safety, was lost for the season after just two games. Not only did Blackmon establish himself as a deep-third eraser right away, he did it in extreme volume — last season, only Quandre Diggs of the Seahawks and Duron Harmon of the Lions had more snaps at free safety than Blackmon’s 869. Blackmon allowed a total of nine receptions on 17 targets for 137 yards, 45 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two interceptions, four pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 40.2.
As he showed on this interception of Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow in Week 6, Blackmon already has the field awareness to bait opposing quarterbacks, and the athleticism to jump the route just in time.”
The Colts have a strong tandem in Blackmon and Khari Willis, who is one of the more underrated players on the team. The duo performed well together during their first season in 2020.
With Blackmon getting a full offseason under his belt—he was rehabbing from a torn ACL last year—the Utah product should be in for a better season than he showed during his rookie campaign.
