The Minnesota Vikings took USC cornerback Mekhi Blackmon with the last pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, No. 102 overall. Corner was a huge need for the team going into the draft due to the turnover the Vikings experienced at the position this offseason. After Byron Murphy, who the team invested meaningfully in during free agency, 2022 draft picks Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans have little NFL experience.
Blackmon brings significant college playing experience to the team. Starting out in JUCO at San Mateo, Blackmon made the leap to the Power 5 at Colorado where he played for four years before transferring to USC in 2022. He was a full-time starter at USC and the team’s top corner, playing over 900 snaps. Blackmon recording three interceptions, 12 pass deflections, and 66 tackles.
PFF loved Blackmon’s final season, giving him a 90.6-overall grade, fourth among FBS CBs. They also gave him a 91.1 coverage grade, which was ranked third. However you break it down, Blackmon ranked highly. Out of over 500 qualifying players, he had an seventh-ranked 87.3 grade on man coverage plays and a 10th-ranked 85.1 grade on zone coverage plays. Per PFF’s charting, Blackmon played 534 snaps in coverage, and allowed 30 catches on 63 targets for 286 yards and one TD. He also intercepted three passes and broke up eight passes, allowing an opposing passer rating of only 46.1 when targeted. Blackmon contributed in the run game, with 21 total run and pass stops and just two missed tackles on 42 tackle attempts.
Blackmon’s strong performance in his senior season led to a Combine invite, where he tested as an above average athlete:
Like first-round pick Jordan Addison, rain affected Blackmon’s Pro Day at USC, so we do not have agility testing from him. Blackmon’s jumps and 40-yard dash times are very good, but his lack of weight brings down his composite RAS score. The Vikings consistently added players who were traditionally underweight in this draft, so they may view player size differently than other teams. Even considering his low weight, Blackmon is clearly a good enough athlete for the NFL level. A 4.47-second 40-yard dash will give him enough recovery speed to keep with most WRs, and his 10-yard split is elite to close in a short area.
With that context in mind, I took to the tape to scout Blackmon. I had three games available to me, all from 2022: at Stanford, at UCLA, and the Bowl Game against Tulane. The primary questions I had going in to watching were: what position does Blackmon fit in the Vikings’ CB room, and is he ready to play right away?
Press technique
Blackmon often lined up in press coverage. Depending on the situation, he deployed a backpedal and a shuffle step to respond to releases from WRs. Blackmon tends to anticipate outside-release routes with a shuffle step, and it can lead to issues with being out of position when the receiver breaks inside.
He showed the ability to play press without getting his hands on his opponent. On the two plays below, Blackmon does a good job of backpedaling to prevent the receiver from getting right on him and waits until the receiver declares with his hips before turning to match the route. Both plays end up well covered. He starts at the bottom of the screen in the first play, and at the top in the second. Both are later zoomed in and slowed down to show more:
Blackmon will also use a shuffle step in press coverage, likely based on pre-snap indicators for the offense. That step helps him cover outside release vertical routes like on the play below, where he does a great job of walling the WR to the sideline and forcing him to step out of bounds:
However, the shuffle step comes with a danger. Blackmon can over-use it against inside breaking releases, and it will lead to him being out of position. He is efficient in recovering via a baseball turn, but this mishaps will still lead to open space for receivers. Blackmon is at the bottom of the screen in each of the plays below:
Blackmon loses this way too often, but it showcased some of his recovery ability. He can get his hips flipped quickly and turn back up the field with receivers when he loses, at an NFL-level quality. You’d like for him to eliminate being out of position entirely, but he can recover like he does at the top of the screen on the play below:
When jamming, Blackmon shows a one-handed and a two-handed jam. He shows good timing with a one-handed punch to slow the receiver’s route release. He does not over extend and attempt a punch when the WR has too much separation, so he stays on balance. Check this out on the plays below (Blackmon is on the bottom, then the top, then the bottom again):
On a two-handed jam, Blackmon will throw one hand at the receiver’s chest and one towards his shoulder. He then tends to use the hand on a defender’s shoulder to trail him down the field. He can be effective using two hands against physical receivers in short area situations, but this technique turns into a negative when receivers turn downfield. He uses that second hand to track the receiver’s shoulder, but also grabs with it. This leads to a number of situations that could have been holding at the NFL level. On the plays below, Blackmon is playing to the boundary (the same side as the hash mark the ball is on):
man coverage
Blackmon displays the speed and flexibility to stick with routes down the field, even when those routes have multiple stems and breaks. His route match ability will benefit him at the NFL level.
The play below was mentioned above in press technique, but the turn with the receiver at the top of the route show’s Blackmon’s (lined up at the top of the screen) impressive mirror ability:
Blackmon does a good job of mirroring players on multiple types of routes, but he is particularly impressive against crossers and digs. He will stick on the hip pocket of defenders through an inside stem turned vertical turned into a dig, like in the play below:
Blackmon’s ability to stick with receivers on in-breaking routes and against quick twitch movements should enable him to play in the slot at the NFL level if the Vikings choose to put him there. While Blackmon played almost every snap in 2022 as an outside corner, I think he can project to playing in the slot, a position the team is light at.
Another example of Blackmon’s ability in man coverage shows when receivers try to run crossers away from him. This is a difficult assignment because the DB needs to have speed to keep up with his opponent, and Blackmon clearly does:
Finally, Blackmon clearly has the speed to turn and run with receivers on vertical routes in man coverage. He stays in good position by squeezing the receiver to the sideline, forcing him to step out of bounds before catching the pass (Blackmon is at the bottom of the screen):
zone coverage
When USC ran zone coverage, it was typically either Cover 3 or Cover 4, where Blackmon had Man-Outside-and-Deep (MOD) responsibilities. There are also a few reps of Cover 2 responsibilities. Blackmon was often aligned in press, so even plays that distributed like man coverage from the other defenders looked similar to man coverage techniques for Blackmon. Take this play for an example, where Blackmon is locked one-on-one against the receiver on the bottom of the screen because the lone deep safety is tilted far over to the field side:
However, in the situations where Blackmon had deep responsibility but played off, he tended to play a little bit too far back and allowed some room underneath. Take the play below, where the receiver drives him upfield before running a curl at the sticks. An understanding of the down and distance and trust of his deep speed could help Blackmon drive on this ball and potentially force an incompletion:
With that being said, Blackmon had positive reps in zone coverage. On the play below, he (bottom of screen) does a good job of feeling the receivers routes develop behind him, and gets enough depth to undercut a throw on the late out:
Blackmon also showed some play recognition and ability to cover for his teammates’ mistakes on this impressive play against UCLA below. The run action brought the deep safety to his side towards the line of scrimmage, and there were two vertical routes run to Blackmon’s side. Blackmon understood that the outside route, his responsibility, was pinned to the sideline by the inside vertical route. So he midpointed between the two routes, and showed a great burst of closing speed to break up the pass to an otherwise wide open receiver:
Ball Skills
Strong ball skills are the hallmark of Blackmon’s game. He understands how to read receivers’ intentions, gets his hand in proper position to contest passes when he is trailing, and often gets his head around the find the ball. He has good hands and doesn’t drop interceptions.
His ball skills are on display against the much taller Elijah Higgins (6’3″, the Miami Dolphins drafted him to be a tight end) at the bottom of the screen below. He matches Higgins’ physicality, and gets his head around to look for the ball. When he sees it coming, he gets one hand directly between Higggins’ at the high point of the throw, tipping the ball in the air. He then tracks it and catches it for the interception:
Blackmon does a really good job of understanding the cues receivers give DBs that a pass is about to arrive. On the play below, Blackmon, at the top, reads the receiver turning towards the ball and gets his head around himself, locating the ball and enabling him to swat it down for the PBU:
Even on negative plays, Blackmon mostly lost due to size. Below, he’s at the top against a bigger receiver. Blackmon has his hand in a good play, guarding the receiver’s facemask, but the player is still able to reel it in despite the contest:
Physicality
Blackmon shows a willingness to get physical with opposing players, even if they are much larger than him. Against Stanford, every receiver he played was 6’2″ or taller, and he was willing to get physical with all of them. That physicality will lead to wins, like on the jump ball interception above or on the two plays against UCLA below where he pins a receiver to the sideline:
However, Blackmon’s physical nature often betrays him. He recorded three DPIs in the Stanford game, and had a number of other clear holds on tape that would be called at the NFL level. His tendency to grab opponents is a big red flag for his game, because it will get called more often at the NFL level. For example, when Amani Oruwariye was called for six penalties against the Vikings in Week 3 of last season. Here is a compilation of his grabs in just that one game:
Blackmon’s tendency to grab even showed on one of his highlights, where he got fistfuls of jersey that weren’t called two different times on this interception:
This will be a priority for the Vikings to rein in if Blackmon is going to see the field early.
Run Defense/Tackling
Blackmon is a willing run defender. He sometimes struggles with discipline, and will try to cut inside in situations where he is the force player who should be funneling everything inside of him. Because of his frame, Blackmon will get overpowered by blocking receivers and needs to go around linemen and TEs to make tackles. On short passes, Blackmon shows adequate, but not great, click-and-close ability to make tackles.
Here is an example of a click-and-close tackle by Blackmon (bottom):
Here, Blackmon (bottom) sticks with the play and works around an offensive lineman to help make the tackle:
Here, Blackmon (bottom) incorrectly works inside the TE initially. This bounces the run outside, but Blackmon shows nice quickness to get around the TE and make the tackle on the QB:
Here, Blackmon gets juked by an RB but still gets a well timed punch off that forces a fumble:
Summary
Blackmon is a quick cornerback who has the movement skills to track receivers through multiple breaks. He has adequate speed for the position, and he can press receivers effectively at the line of scrimmage. Blackmon suffers lapses in technique in press that can leave him out of position, and he will also grab on to opponents unnecessarily. Blackmon is physical throughout the route and at the catch point, with good ball skills to knock down and intercept the football.
In zone coverage, Blackmon has a feel for the players around him and will position himself well. He has NFL-level click-and-close ability. In the run game, Blackmon can get overpowered by larger blockers. He shows a willingness to stick his nose in against runs, but doesn’t always read the play correctly. As a tackler, Blackmon gets the job done, with few missed tackles in his career.
FIT WITH THE VIKINGS
Blackmon’s best fit with the Vikings may be as a slot corner. Even though he played primarily outside at USC, he has the quickness and movement skills to play in the slot. With Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans as longer corners, both will be best on the outside. Byron Murphy can play both slot and outside, but the team may want to have him shadow the opponent’s best receiver, which would mean frequent outside assignments. Therefore, the slot is the path of least resistance for Blackmon.
Blackmon is sticky enough to play right away, but he must clean up multiple components of his game if he wants to play early. He needs to increase his patience at the line of scrimmage in press, and not declare to early, allowing opponents to get him turned around. He must also learn to play without his hands consistently grabbing opponents’ jerseys. His play in college would lead to a large number of holding calls in the NFL.
Ideally, Blackmon will put on muscle in an NFL weight room. At 24, Blackmon is an older prospect and may struggle to do so. His frame (5’11” tall, 31″ arms) will limit his ability to contest passes to taller receivers in the league. The Vikings are hoping that Blackmon can perform like Jack Jones, another older prospect with a similar frame, who was a fourth-round pick and strong contributor to the New England Patriots’ excellent defense in 2022.
