Mekhi Blackmon NFL Draft Overview
Position: Cornerback
Height: 5′-11″
Weight: 178 pounds
School: USC
2023 NFL Draft: Mekhi Blackmon Scouting Report
Mekhi Blackmon’s college football career began in 2017 at the College of San Mateo (CA). In his lone season for the Bulldogs, he had 20 tackles (12 solo, eight assisted), while also recovering a fumble and making an interception. After the season, Blackmon transferred to the University of Colorado-Boulder. In his first season with the Buffs, in 2019, Blackmon appeared in six games including four at cornerback, three of which he started at corner. He had 10 tackles (eight solo, two assisted), including a sack and defending against two passes. In his second season in the Centennial State, Blackmon appeared in four games for the Buffaloes, including three at cornerback. He missed the remainder of the team’s eight games, due to injuries. He still managed to make 10 tackles (seven solo, three assisted), including a sack, while also forcing a fumble.
During the Covid-19 shortened season of 2020, Blackmon started all six of Colorado’s games at cornerback. He had 15 total tackles (13 solo, two assisted), while also picking off a pass, and defending against six others. In what would be his final season, for the Buffs in 2021, he started appeared in nine of 12 games for Colorado, missing three due to injury. For the season he totaled 41 tackles (28 solo, 13 assisted) while recovering a fumble, intercepting a pass, and defending against four passes. After the season, Blackmon entered the transfer portal, and returned to his home state of California, at the University of Southern California (USC). In his only season for the Trojans in 2022, Blackmon had a monster season amassing 66 tackles (45 solo, 21 assisted), while also recovering a fumble, forcing a fumble, intercepting a career-high three passes, and also contesting a career-best, 13 passes.
Strengths
- Stays with his receiver for the duration of the route;
- Has experience in covering the slot, as well as the outside receivers;
- Plays the deep ball effectively;
- Has good leaping ability, which allows him to contend for passes against taller receivers;
- Beats up and bullies his opponent off the line.
Weaknesses
- Needs to improve his footwork, especially from his pedal position;
- Is frequently handsy with receivers, leading to a lot of pass-interference/illegal-contact penalties;
- Does not finish tackles, especially against the run;
- Taller receivers who have great leaping ability are an Achilles’ heel for Blackmon;
- Hip mechanics need to be improved, especially when covering receivers on stop-and-go routes.
NFL Comparison: Jack Jones
Teams With Need At Position: Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Commanders
Projection: Rounds 6-7
Bottom Line on Mekhi Blackmon
Mekhi Blackmon had a monster season for USC, last year. However, some teams may be concerned about the amount of time he is missed over his six seasons of college football, and whether that trend will continue into the NFL. While Blackmon has the potential to be a very good football player in the NFL, his injury history coupled with his weaknesses, are the two main reasons he will not be drafted until round six or seven. He has a lot of good qualities that would make him an effective player in the NFL.
Blackmon stays with his receiver for the duration of the route and has experience covering both the slot and outside receivers. He is able to play the deep ball effectively and has great leaping ability which allows him to contest for balls against taller opponents. Teams will also like the fact that beats up on the receivers, the second the ball is snapped. Aside from his questionable injury history, what may persuade teams to not use a pick on Blackmon, is that he doesn’t have the best footwork and is also very hands-on against receivers which leads to a lot of pass interference/illegal contact penalties. He also needs to improve the volume of tackles he completes, especially against the run.
The one weakness that he does have that he may not be able to improve upon is contesting for a pass against a taller receiver who also has great leaping ability. The last thing that Blackmon will need to improve in order to stay on an NFL roster is he needs to do a better job of utilizing his hips (allowing them to be looser), especially on stop-and-go routes, which have been problematic for him in the past. If Blackmon can replicate what he did last year at USC, and avoid injuries at all costs, it would not be surprising to see him become a star cornerback, in the future, because he definitely has the potential to do so.
Main Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
