CBS Sports has predicted a dark horse candidate as their breakout star for the Indianapolis Colts.
Several media outlets predict breakout stars for every team in the offseason. Popular choices for the Indianapolis Colts have been Anthony Richardson and more recently Alec Pierce from Bleacher Report.
However CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin went off the beaten path a bit to pick a true-breakout candidate for the Colts in safety Julian Blackmon.
Blackmon’s been up and down through his first few NFL seasons, and has missed 15 games due to injury. But he’s been terrific in run defense, flying down from the top of the formation to make tackles in and around the backfield. With defensive coordinator Gus Bradley staying on under new head coach Shane Steichen, Blackmon should be more comfortable in the system and better able to navigate his way in pass coverage. — Jared Dubin, CBS Sports
Blackmon is definitely under the radar on a national scale heading into the 2023 season, one of the prerequisites for “breaking out”.
He finished last season with a 62.3 grade from Pro Football Focus, putting him 58th among eligible safeties last year.
However, his 77.0 run defense grade from PFF put him 17th among safeties. Familiarity with Bradley’s scheme should help him feel more comfortable in pass coverage.
Blackmon split his time almost equally between safety and nickel cornerback in 2022. Another reason why a year with the same coordinator should help him – becoming more familiar with what is being asked of him on a week to week basis.
He was drafted in the third round out of Utah in 2020 and is scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the year. There’s no better time than right now for Blackmon to have his breakout season with the Colts.
Originally posted on si.com