Julian
Blackmon.
Julian
Blackmon.
Utah· 6'0"· 187 lb
"A two-time All-Pac-12 cornerback who moved to free safety as a senior, made second-team All-American in his first year there, then tore his ACL in the conference title game and never worked out before the draft."Pre-draft read
Blackmon is a converted cornerback playing free safety, and the coverage background shows on every snap. He carries route anticipation and ball skills most college safeties never develop, driving on throws in front of him and matching tight ends down the seam. His range from the deep middle is real, and he tracks the ball over his shoulder like a corner.
The second trait is production off the football. He intercepted nine passes across four Utah seasons and broke up twenty more, and he added 1.5 sacks against UCLA in a twelve-tackle afternoon. Run support was the newest part of his game, where his angles and take-on strength lagged the coverage instincts. The signature is the corner-trained free safety who plays the deep middle with hands.
Single-high or two-deep structure that lets a coverage-first safety play the deep middle and rotate down into the slot on passing downs.
Year 1 starting free safety once the knee clears, with a ceiling as a five-interception ballhawk who erases the middle of the field.
A defense that wants its safety as the primary box enforcer taking on pulling guards every snap, which asks his 187-pound frame and newest skill to carry the job.
Julian "Juice" Blackmon | Utah Safety Highlights
Senior-season safety reel from the All-American year at the new position.
Julian Blackmon (Utah DB #23) vs. West Virginia 2017
Full-game cornerback tape from the first All-Pac-12 season on the perimeter.
Julian Blackmon (Utah DB #23) vs. Northern Illinois 2018
Junior-year corner reps showing the press and route recognition that carried over to safety.
Blackmon, from Layton, Utah, became one of the most decorated defensive backs of the Whittingham era by earning all-conference honors at two positions. He appeared in nine games as a freshman, then started at cornerback as a sophomore and junior for second-team All-Pac-12 honors both years, with four interceptions in 2017 and a team-best ten breakups in 2018.
The senior year was the reinvention. Utah moved him to free safety and he was better: 60 tackles, four for loss, 1.5 sacks, four interceptions that tied for the Pac-12 lead, two forced fumbles and a 39-yard pick-six against BYU. He was AP second-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-12, and took Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for a 12-tackle, 1.5-sack, forced-fumble, interception game against UCLA.
Then the knee. He tore his ACL in the Pac-12 Championship Game against Oregon in December, missed the Alamo Bowl, had surgery four months before the draft and never worked out for a team. A projected second- or third-round player was suddenly being mocked to the sixth round or out of the draft entirely. Chris Ballard did not blink: he told Blackmon Indianapolis did not care that he was hurt, took him at 85 knowing he would not contribute until October, and called him a rangy safety who could also play corner and nickel.
- 01
Corner-trained coverage
Two years starting at outside cornerback gave him route anticipation and man-match ability that career safeties rarely have.
- 02
Ball production
Nine interceptions and twenty pass breakups across four seasons, including two returned for touchdowns, with genuinely soft hands.
- 03
Positional versatility
All-Pac-12 honors at both cornerback and safety, able to play split field, big nickel or down in the box.
- 04
Immediate transition
Moved to free safety as a senior and was second-team All-American in his first year at the spot, which speaks to processing speed.
- 05
Range and angles in coverage
Covers ground from the deep middle and tracks the ball over his shoulder rather than playing the receiver's hands.
- 01
Torn ACL in December
Injured in the Pac-12 title game, surgery four months before the draft, no combine and no pro day workout for teams.
- 02
Unpolished run support
Angles to the alley and take-on strength were the newest parts of his game after two seasons spent on the perimeter.
- 03
Slender build
Listed at 187 pounds on draft day, light for a safety being asked to fill downhill against NFL power runs.
- 04
One year of safety tape
The projection rests on a single season at the position, so the deep-middle rep bank is thin against play-action.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Utah | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Utah | 13 | 48 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 2018 | Utah | 14 | 48 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| 2019 | Utah | 13 | 60 | 1.5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Career | — | 49 | 158 | 1.5 | 9 | 20 | 2 |
Sports-Reference game-by-game totals are used here and the four seasons sum exactly to the 158-tackle career line. Utah lists 48 games and 39 starts, two fewer appearances than Sports-Reference credits. The 2019 season ended in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a torn ACL, so he did not play in the Alamo Bowl. Pass-breakup counts exclude interceptions; Utah reported eight total passes defended in 2019 by combining the two.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Multi-year starting safety with real coverage value and occasional splash, without ever reaching All-Pro status.
The ceiling: a rangy deep safety whose ball production turns him into a perennial interception leader and long-term anchor.
The early-career version: a converted corner who bounces around as a backup for years before the light comes on, or never does if the knee lingers.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Ballard was right. Blackmon came off the PUP timeline and started 14 of 15 games as a rookie in 2020 with 42 tackles, two interceptions and six pass breakups, exactly the plug-and-play player Indianapolis expected. A torn Achilles ended his 2021 season after six games, and 2022 was a partial bounce-back with 50 tackles, a sack and a pick-six in fourteen games. Then came the best stretch of his career: 88 tackles, four interceptions and eight pass breakups in 2023, and 86 tackles with three more picks across all sixteen games he played in 2024.
He left for New Orleans in 2025 and the injury luck turned again, with his season effectively ending after one game. Through seven seasons he has 69 games, 65 starts, 315 tackles, eleven interceptions and 23 pass breakups. In hindsight this is one of the better value picks of the round. Indianapolis got five seasons of quality starting safety play for a third-rounder because they were willing to buy a December ACL, and the medical discount is the only reason a second-round talent was still there at 85. The only thing separating him from a genuinely great outcome is that the body has cost him roughly two full seasons of availability.
Data note: from Philadelphia via Detroit