Julian Blackmon

No. 23 · 7th season

Blackmon lost his first Saints season to injury. He says he's grateful for what's coming.

There's a particular kind of optimism that only comes from having something taken away. Julian Blackmon knows it.

Blackmon joined the New Orleans Saints and then watched his first season with the team slip away because of injury. That's the kind of thing that can quietly reshape a player — what they're chasing, what they're grateful for, how they show up when things are finally healthy again.

Now looking ahead to 2026, Blackmon says gratitude is the word he keeps coming back to. He also believes the Saints' secondary — the group of defensive backs he plays alongside — is in a good place. That's not nothing. A player who has been through a lost season and comes out the other side talking about gratitude rather than frustration is telling you something about where their head is.

The real question is what that looks like when the games start.

Content sourced from publicly available information. Gripd is an independent fan platform not affiliated with the NFL or any team.

Julian Blackmon

Blackmon lost his first Saints season to injury. He says he's grateful for what's coming.

Pierce is heading in the right direction, and that's enough for now

Moreau is coming back to where it all started

Seven years later, Moreau finds his way back to where it started