A couple of good pieces on Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon

One is a profile (or anti-profile), while the other includes excerpts of interviews with Big 12 cornerbacks who’ve had to face him. The latter touches on the points that make Blackmon maybe the best college wide receiver I’ve seen in some time: (1) that he is focused and goes hard on every play and seems to never get tired because he’s in fantastic condition and (2) that he is not as big as he plays — he’s listed at 6’1″, but is extremely physical and plays large.

When Holgorsen got to Oklahoma State, he was an underclassmen receiver who had just a few catches to his name. Indeed, they said that, coming out of spring practice, they thought Blackmon was probably only their third-best receiver. But the light went on for him and it’s been fireworks ever since. This season his average yards per catch is down because he’s such a marked player, but that’s helped open things up for his teammates as the receivers around him have been playing at a higher level (in their second year in the offense with Blackmon as fantastic role model). And of course, he and Weeden have the best connection in football, and when they throw that fade route it’s unstoppable — and gorgeous.