Colts' Nick Cross to Start in Place of Injured Julian Blackmon
The Indianapolis Colts were dealt a major blow to their defense this week, as starting strong safety Julian Blackmon was placed on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury he suffered against the Atlanta Falcons. Blackmon, 25, was one of the few veteran leaders in a young Colts' secondary.
Blackmon's impact on the defense cannot be understated, as his play really took off in the last two months. The veteran safety led the Colts with four interceptions while also accumulating 88 tackles, five tackles for a loss, and eight pass breakups on the year.
With Blackmon out for the remainder of the season, it appears as though second-year safety Nick Cross will be the next man up for the Colts. Cross, 22, was the Colts' third-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. After hardly seeing the field on defense as a rookie, Cross has steadily made more of an impact in year two.
Cross is among the league leaders in special teams tackles this season and he also tallied a blocked punt against the Tennessee Titans back in Week 13. He has earned rotational snaps on defense in recent weeks, seeing over 100 snaps on that side of the ball since the bye week and coming away with his first career interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15.
When Blackmon went down with an injury against the Falcons, Cross was the player who filled in at the strong safety position. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley noted some communication issues with this sudden change, but was also quite complimentary of the young player:
Last week we talked about, there’s a lot on Nick’s (Cross) plate. He’s got to be a free safety, a backup strong safety, backup nickel and he’s got to be ready at any moment. He went in there and we saw him – he made some tackles. I think the communication with Julian (Blackmon) – it took us a little bit. There is a little different communication mode with Julian in there than Nick.
But I think as the game got on, the communication became better. He made some plays. I think there were some times where the back went to the flat and we got picked in there. We didn’t communicate that properly. Those things took place.
Cross had primarily been rotating in at free safety this season so the sudden change in position was likely overwhelming for the young player at first. Luckily, the Colts' defensive staff has been training Cross behind the scenes at multiple positions to prepare for situations like this.
Bradley appears ready to give Cross an expanded role in these final two games with Blackmon out. When asked about his confidence in the young player going forward, Bradley had this to say:
Well, I like his mindset. I don’t know if I could’ve said that last year. I don’t know if there was complete trust with him out on the field, but now there is trust and he’s going to get his chance to show us. He’s going to get a chance to show his teammates. He’s a better communicator at the free safety spot. Now he just has to transfer that to the strong safety spot.
Cross has come a long way since the beginning of last season and now he is finally getting his chance to show it on the football field. With the Colts needing to win these final two games to make the playoffs, the stage is set for this young player to fully emerge on this defense.
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