One of the state of Utah’s top young talents in the NFL is out for the remainder of the 2021 season.
The Indianapolis Colts announced Thursday that former Utes safety Julian Blackmon tore his Achilles in his practice Wednesday and is out for the year.
Blackmon, who prepped at Layton High, had 34 tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass deflection while starting all six games for the Colts during his second NFL season.
“I think (in your) second year you’re always a little bit better because everything slows down for him a little bit in terms of the game,” defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said of Blackmon on Tuesday, per the team’s website. “He understands where he fits into the defense and he’s been in multiple situations so he’s had the ability to file those away and learn from those.
“He’s a constant, constant guy that wants to constantly learn to get better. You can see that in his maturation in terms of that. He’s another guy that’s very smart. He’s got great vision of the long range of the field. He can cover a lot of space. He can cover a lot of space and the thing that we’re so impressed with him this year, is his physicality. He’s been really bringing the physical game to it.”
The 6-foot, 202-pound Blackmon became an immediate contributor for Indianapolis as a rookie last year after the team selected him in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft. He played in 15 games as a rookie, starting 14, and had 38 tackles, six pass deflections, two interceptions and a forced fumble for a Colts team that advanced to the playoffs as a wild card.