Mekhi Blackmon suffers ACL tear during Minnesota Vikings training camp, per report
The Minnesota Vikings were dealt some devastating news early in training camp. On Wednesday evening, Alec Lewis reported that Vikings defensive back Mekhi Blackmon suffered a torn ACL. The news was confirmed by a MRI on Wednesday, according to multiple media reports. The franchise was expecting big things from Blackmon this season. He’ll be sidelined for the entire 2024-2025 campaign. Wednesday’s practice was their first practice of training camp.
Blackmon was impressive in his rookie campaign with the franchise, earning a 76.6 grade from PFF in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints. He was the highest graded rookie defensive back, according to PFF. Blackmon played in 15 games with three starts in his debut season in the National Football League. He racked up 41 tackles, eight pass breakups, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
He was selected by Minnesota in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. In his college career, Blackmon played for four years with the Colorado Buffaloes, before ultimately deciding to transfer to the USC Trojans. He finished his college career with 142 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack, five interceptions, 24 pass deflections, two fumble recoveries, and two forced fumbles. His best year in college came during the 2022 season, when he tallied 66 tackles, two tackles for loss, three interceptions, 12 pass deflections, a fumble recovery, and a forced fumble. For his efforts, he was named first team All-Pac-12.
While with Colorado in 2021, Blackmon earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors his redshirt senior year. He finished with 50 tackles, a sack, five deflections, an interception, and a fumble recovery, while appearing in nine games that year. As a high school prospect, he made the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle All-Metro honorable mention and All-Conference as a senior wide receiver/defensive back. Blackmon played his high school football for Menlo-Atherton (California). In 2016, he hauled in 23 catches for 620 yards with nine touchdowns on offense and six interceptions on defense.
He also played basketball in high school.
The Vikings will be in the market for a veteran corner to join Byron Murphy, Jr. and Shaq Griffin at the top of their depth chart. Stephon Gilmore is the top veteran cornerback still remaining in the free agency. It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Vikings franchise, as they also had to deal with the tragic death of corner Khyree Jackson. He was killed in a three-car crash in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.