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INDIANAPOLIS – Honestly, if Julian Blackmon’s agent wants to remind the Colts of what his client means to their team, he should just pop in film of the team’s season-ending loss to Texans.
While that might seem a tad harsh, that night was also a reminder of how much Blackmon meant to the Colts last season.
C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins torched the Colts in that season finale, with Blackmon nursing a shoulder injury on injured reserve.
That Christmas Eve injury to Blackmon was one deserving of ample attention.
Blackmon had a really strong contract year with career-highs in interceptions (4), passes defensed (8) and tackles for loss (5).
On top of that, Blackmon is one of the most dependable communicators on the Colts defense, something Gus Bradley has grown to trust in relaying info throughout the secondary.
Blackmon’s loss in that Week 16 defeat to the Falcons was a huge late-season blow.
“I thought Julian Blackmon played really good football this year,” Chris Ballard said at the end of the season.
“It sucked when he got hurt. That hurt when we lost him. I thought he played excellent football.”
Having said that though, the Blackmon free agency resume also has something you can’t ignore.
More so than any other high-level Colts free agent this cycle, injuries can’t be ignored with Blackmon.
He missed 1 game as a rookie (coming off a torn ACL). He then missed 11 games in his second season (torn Achilles in practice). And various injuries sidelined him for 5 total games in the last two years.
Add it all up, and Blackmon has missed 17 of a possible 67 games in his career.
That’s going to be a hinderance in his market.
With the Colts, there’s also a couple of other young draft picks at safety in Nick Cross (3rd rounder in 2022) and 7th rounder Rodney Thomas II (2022), although those two shouldn’t be viewed as entrenched starters by any means.
Safety has been a position the Colts have found one-year stopgaps at in the Chris Ballard era, so that shouldn’t be forgotten either.
Amongst the top-flight in-house free agents for the Colts in 2024, Blackmon is probably the hardest to pinpoint.
-Pros: Very good player. Key contributor. Critical communicator.
-Cons: Some health questions. Position where the Colts have found other answers.
Bring Blackmon back?
Let him walk?
