Mekhi Blackmon

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@MaroonBells said:

@kmillard said:

@MaroonBells said:
I knew when they traded back that this would be an Alexander Mattison type pick--a player they knew would still be there at the end of the round, and likely beyond. 

Don't know that I've seen too many sleeper lists without Blackmon's name on it. I didn't watch many of the top corners, so I sure as hell didn't watch Blackmon. But if he's half as impressive as Akayleb Evans was I'll be happy. But this smacks more of Flores than Kwesi. 

Only problem I have with the pick is value. Even PFF, who loved him, put him at 184. What's more, we took Blackmon before about a half dozen corners who were much higher on most big boards: Ringo, Phillips, Rush, the Minnesota corner. But those players are still out there and we're not the only corner-needy team who passed on them, so something's up. 

He didnt get much return value in trading down so many spots. Still hasn't figured that one out.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Someone give the kid a goddamn trade value chart. 

might be time to redo the value chart,  or have it somehow weighted with the way the individual year lays out.  

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I dunno gang, talent aside, in practice 175 will hold up if we are in thud, if we are in take-down, not so much.

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Things being as they are with this roster, a 5'11 173lb WR and a 5'11 178 lb CB  wasn't how I saw the Vikings fixing their problems.

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He was a total reach pick. We could have taken the risk and targeted him with one of our 5th rounders, while taking some higher rated defensive players to fill our needs at DT and LB. You don't reach on a Corner in this draft when it's so deep and that is exactly what Kwesi did here. It's not his heart or aggressiveness on the field that's in question. His lack of size to compete with tall receivers, his tendency to grab as part of his coverage technique, and his lack of strength to win contested catches are just some of the concerns with his scouting report. He basically gave away the extra draft capital he accumulated with the move down by taking a player 2-3 rounds too early. 

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@Mattyman said:
Things being as they are with this roster, a 5'11 173lb WR and a 5'11 178 lb CB  wasn't how I saw the Vikings fixing their problems.

damn right

Analytics my ass

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Blackmon’s draft projections were bizarre in comparison to his performance. He’s older and smaller - two things evaluators can really hold against a guy. However, it’s highly likely he was much much higher on many teams draft boards. His performance last year was exceptional and he was playing and practicing against some great talent. From a pure production and performance standpoint, he’s a top 3 to 5 in this draft. He’ll need to learn to play within the rules, but the talent is absolutely there. 

I suspect he’ll play around 190, which should be fine. I like the pick - a lot from a talent standpoint, the spot is the unknown. You always want someone later, but we have little insight into various teams boards.

Passer rating to his coverage was 46.1
He gave up 286 yards on the year and a single touchdown. Despite his size, PFF rated his run defense at 79.4, which is very good to excellent for a corner. He only missed 2 tackles and one pick opportunity on the season.