Young Viking Looking to Shine After “Messed Up Situation”
Mekhi Blackmon, a relatively young Viking, was looking like a breakout candidate going into 2024; an offseason knee injury undermined that possibility. Recently, he reflected on the injury in a quick chat with Darren Wolfson.
Needing to step away from the game left the young corner emotional: “Once I got hurt, I kind of, I took like three days. I cried in front of everybody. But then after my little three days or whatever I was over it.” Blackmon describes himself as “an emotional person” whose open display of sadness led his teammates to collectively say, “Damn, this is a messed up situation.'” Conveying emotion to teammates helped to drive home how personally devastating the injury was to Blackmon, a story that helps to illuminate why he’s so excited for the coming season.
Young Viking Mekhi Blackmon on Where He’s Going in ’25
Standing at 5’11” and weighing 178 pounds, Blackmon isn’t the largest corner. He is, nevertheless, a promising corner.
He’s 26, making him a bit older than a lot of third-year NFL players. His rookie season in 2023 went reasonably well, all things considered. The No. 102 pick — the last draft slot in the 3rd Round — got onto the field for fifteen games, starting three. He earned 41 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 interception, and impressive 8 passes defended.
The PFF enthusiasts in the crowd will be heartened to see that the corner snagged a healthy 71.8 grade in his rookie season. The grade positioned Blackmon at 42nd among 229 corners, suggesting that he’s a reasonably strong starter (at least by that single assessment).
Sitting atop the corner room is Byron Murphy, someone who is the undisputed top option after landing a beefy deal to keep calling Minnesota home (a trio of seasons at $54,000,000). Presumably, a world where Murphy needs time in the infirmary is a world where the Vikings see themselves in a lot of trouble. After all, we’re talking about the only corner who is firmly a starter.
After Murphy, Isaiah Rodgers is leading the charge to be the second corner. Brian Flores is said to have a lot of faith in the former Eagle, an opinion that should carry a ton of weight. The defensive coordinator is a wonderful defensive mind, someone who has proven to be a sophisticated tactician. Rodgers is going to be leaned on to help bring Flores’ vision to fruition.
One then turns the attention toward Jeff Okudah, Tavierre Thomas, Dwight McGlothern, and Mekhi Blackmon (among others). Who is going to end up as the CB3? The now-healthy corner — Mr. Blackmon — has a good chance of earning the spot. He could even slide into the CB2 spot if things really progress in his career.
Almost similar to J.J. McCarthy, Blackmon had to shift the focus in 2024 away from the physical component of football. Yes, there’s a physical, bodily component toward getting back to full health, but that differs from getting football reps in practice and on Sunday.
Instead, he had to soak up the intellectual side of things, something that could very plausibly lead to him playing faster since he’ll have a fuller understanding of what his DC is asking of him.
Elsewhere in the interview, Mekhi Blackmon discusses being “100%” for training camp, how he had some lofty plans for last season before getting injured (ones that have shifted forward to 2025), and how he disagrees with the doubt about Minnesota’s corners that is getting expressed on Twitter.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and Bluesky (@VikingsGazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.