Vikings Will Regain a Defender

Due to some good progress with an injury recovery, the Vikings will regain a defender for the Brian Flores defense.

Kevin O’Connell chatted with the media on Monday. Along the way, the team’s head coach took a few minutes to offer some health updates — J.J. McCarthy is in a good spot — and that discussion included young corner Mekhi Blackmon, someone who is being leaned on to elevate his play to fortify the secondary.

Vikings Will Regain a Defender at CB

Drafted at No. 102 in the 2023 NFL Draft, Blackmon was brought to town with the aim of developing him into a starter on defense.

His rookie season went well, all things considered. He played in fifteen games, starting a trio. The end result was 435 snaps on defense (43%) and 2 on special teams (1%). He picked up 41 tackles, including 3 tackles for loss. Beefing up the stats was an interception and then 8 passes defended, alongside a fumble recovery.

Where do things stand with his health?

Kick it over to the coach for the update: “Mekhi Blackmon is a guy kind of heading towards the end point of that rehab from his ACL. And I see him progressing to football activities here as we move through the spring.”

So, really good news. Getting back to full health early on in the offseason will allow for a long on-ramp before merging onto the highway that is the regular season.

Right now, Byron Murphy Jr. is the top corner. Next up is Isaiah Rodgers, a free-agent pickup who has been getting some praise during the offseason. Who takes over as the CB3 — Blackmon, Jeff Okudah, Dwight McGlothern, or mystery option — remains to be seen.

The advanced statistics on PFR suggest that Blackmon was targeted 52 times, allowing 32 completions back in 2023. The end result is allowing a 61.5% completion rate to stand alongside 295 yards. Each catch went for an average of 9.2 yards — pretty strong — and there were a pair of touchdowns allowed. The pass rating is sitting at 81.8. Impressive, especially for a 3rd-Round rookie.

Despite his size, Mekhi Blackmon mostly lined up along the outside. He soaked up 382 snaps along the outside. Rounding things out were 30 snaps in the box, 18 snaps in the slot, and 4 snaps along the d-line. One wonders if further NFL experience will lead to further versatility, especially given the DC’s proclivity for shuffling his secondary around (which is to say nothing of the chaos at the line of scrimmage).

PFF was reasonably impressed with Blackmon’s work, handing the corner a 71.8 grade. Not elite, but strong. Hard to ask for much more from a young guy, especially one operating within a sophisticated defense that requires a lot of intellectual work. It’s the mental side of the game that he largely had to focus on during this past season, so he’ll hopefully be even more confident when it comes to navigating Flores’ defense.

Mekhi Blackmon, 26, is carrying a $1,446,568 cap charge. If he plays a significant role, then Blackmon will prove to be an absolute bargain for the 2025 Vikings.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.

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 social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.