With this year’s draft class, many people have questioned the Vikings’ decisions. Analysts have said they reached for players, and they have also said they have great value. However, a lot of this debate is centered around one player– Mehki Blackmon.
The Vikings have had a lot of misfortune in the past cornerbacks they have drafted. Jeff Gladney struggled to start, and unfortunately passed away, may he rest in peace. Mike Hughes was a total bust. Mackensie Alexander was serviceable, Cam Dantzler just never got better, and Akayleb Evans only has one year under his belt. Fans have been nervous for any cornerback the Vikings bring in because they haven’t had a good one since Xavier Rhodes. Luckily, the Vikings brought in Byron Murphy. Byron Murphy has come off a pretty solid year of production and was honestly a steal in free agency. However, Murphy is still relatively new to the league. Of course, he will be able to mentor the youngins, but I don’t think it will be detrimental to how they progress. The Vikings also have Evans coming into his sophomore season which has some fans excited. Evans had flashes a year ago that Dantzler didn’t have when he was a rookie. Plus, with the addition of Brian Flores, it adds a lot of good to the environment he learns in. With all this coming into next season, Vikings fans still have the question of Mekhi Blackmon’s talent and potential. Hopefully, I can maybe help some dilemmas within the Vikings fanbase.
I think Blackmon will produce, but it won’t be in his first year I don’t think. I don’t think he will even be towards the top of the lineup. You have Murphy, Evans, and Booth in front of him immediately, which is a lot of potential talent to work in front of. Plus, he hasn’t experienced an actual fast-paced NFL offense. I think after a year or two in the NFL he will blossom. He might even progress to be a good, reliable, cornerback. Blackmon is a big corner who actually went up against elite talent in Jordan Addison, which I think will provide some upside for him. He does have a big frame, but as we learned that doesn’t mean anything anymore, as we saw with Cam Danztler. I think his upside will be against receivers within the division: Amon Ra St. Brown, Christian Watson, Jameson Williams, D.J. Moore. Those guys will all be great learning experiences for Blackmon and I think he will learn greatly from them.
To wrap this all up, I think Blackmon has great potential. He is coming into a defense coached by an elite coach that has developed great cornerbacks in the past. Some names are Xavien Howard, Courtland Sutton, Patrick Chung, and more. I think if he focuses on Blackmon, Blackmon could develop into an elite talent. Hopefully he can be the next Antoine Winfield of the Vikings. All in all, I think Mekhi Blackmon will turn out great for the Vikings, his upside is tremendous, and since the Vikings got him in the third, it won’t be a drastic loss.
