The Indianapolis Colts used a third-round pick on safety Julian Blackmon in the 2020 NFL Draft even though he’s unlikely to make an impact on the field until October at the earliest.
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Even with his rehabbing ACL, the Colts didn’t care. They saw something in Blackmon and felt the need to pounce on him before another team did. After making the switch to safety in 2019, Blackmon feels he has a lot to offer the Colts defense.
One of the primary aspects of his game that Blackmon is ready to show is his intelligence and IQ playing the safety position. Having converted from cornerback, Blackmon feels his understanding of multiple positions will help him.
“You have a whole lot of field to cover as a safety whereas when you’re at corner you’re guarding just one guy and you’re specifically having one job,” Blackmon told reporters after getting drafted. “But the difference with safety is you have to know everybody’s job and that’s why I wanted to go to safety because I feel like my intelligence of the game and my IQ fit that because I understood everybody’s position.”
When watching Blackmon’s tape, it is easy to see why the Colts liked him. Maybe they could have waited and grabbed him earlier in the draft because of his injury. We’ll never know for sure. But Indy was ready to add him to the secondary because of his upside.
With fluid movements and strong instincts in a first-year safety, Blackmon certainly brings a lot of upside to the position. His sound tackling ability makes him a perfect mid-round target for the Colts to develop potentially as a starter—depending on how the situation with Malik Hooker plays out.
Even so, Blackmon talked about what most he needs to improve upon at the next level.
“Yeah, I think that the biggest thing for me was understanding spacing,” said Blackmon. “It’s a lot different.”
The Colts are likely going to keep Blackmon at safety primarily, but the Utah product isn’t afraid to move around the secondary.
“I mean I’ll play any position. It doesn’t really matter,” said Blackmon. “I think that I just came off a good year playing safety so I don’t see why I couldn’t play it. But whatever happens is whatever I will be playing.”
It will be interesting to see what plans the Colts have for Blackmon and while it might be a minute before he steps on the field to make an impact, there is plenty of intrigue in his ceiling as a defender.
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