ESPN puts former Oklahoma State WR on list of 21st Century’s Top 25 greatest players

Few players in college football played at the level Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon did in the early 2010s — the reason the two-time Biletnikoff Award winner was named to ESPN’s list of the 25 greatest college football players of the 21st Century.

From ESPN : “Sometimes everything suddenly clicks. Blackmon followed a pretty normal developmental trajectory for a while, signing with OSU as a three-star recruit, redshirting in his first year in Stillwater, then catching a pedestrian 20 balls for 260 yards in 2009. And then, click, he became just about the best player in college football.”

Blackmon had 11 receptions for 1,728 yards and 20 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2010 followed by 122 receptions for 1,522 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior in 2011 — perhaps the best two-year stretch for any wide receiver in college football history.

Blackmon was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars but was out of the league after two seasons due to substance abuse issues.

He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024.