Top 25 Current Eagles: A $5K Investment in No. 23 Reed Blankenship Paid Off
PHILADELPHIA - After the 2022 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles cobbled together a 12-man undrafted class that many observers dubbed the best UDFA class in the league, a haul headlined by perceived draftable commodities like Nevada quarterback Carson Strong, Idaho nose tackle Noah Elliss, and Oklahoma running back Kennedy Brooks.
The Eagles handed out a reported $1.747 million in guaranteed money to the group. Near the bottom of the list was a five-year starting safety at Middle Tennessee State, Reed Blankenship, who got $55,000 in total guarantees and just $5K to sign.
Because offset language is included in all UDFA deals, the only thing the Eagles were really on the hook for was the $5K. And if you’re gauging investments, there was no greater value than Blankenship in what turned out to be an NFC Championship season for the Eagles.
Fast forward 12 months and Blankenship spent the spring as a starter on the back end for coordinator Sean Desai’s defense opposite free-agent pickup Terrell Edmunds. The Athens, Ala. native is No. 23 on SI.com’s Eagles Today’s list of the top-25 Philadelphia players entering the 2023 season.
This is the second consecutive year, SI.com's Eagles Today beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen will be ranking the top 25 Eagles players for the upcoming season in advance of the team's training camp, which begins on July 25.
Blankenship finished No. 24 on McMullen’s list and Kracz had the second-year player a tick better at No. 23. Making both lists helped secure Blankenship a spot on the list for the first time.
Blankenship went from afterthought to 53-man roster threat last summer when the pads came on and he was able to show the coaching staff his physicality.
Once he cracked the 53, Blankenship kept impressing behind the scenes and when the Eagles needed a safety when C.J. Gardner-Johnson went down with a lacerated kidney, Blankenship had impressed then-secondary coach Dennard Wilson so much that he had surpassed veteran K’Von Wallace as the top backup.
When he was on the field, Blankenship became the first undrafted rookie to intercept Aaron Rodgers and showed a consistency that was rare for even a high-profile rookie with a first-round pedigree. Blankenship was so good that when Gardner-Johnson returned and slot corner Avonte Maddox was injured that the decision was made to put the versatile CJGJ in the slot and keep Blankenship on the field in nickel looks.
“Make sure you’re ready at all costs, no matter what position you’re in,” Blankenship said when asked what his rookie season taught him. “Somebody can go down and your number can get called and you have to be ready to go. That’s why I treated every week like I was starting.”
The Eagles’ premium draft picks last year included two defensive superstars from the best team in college football – Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean of Georgia – and a gifted Big Ten offensive lineman in Cam Jurgens but the team’s best rookie was secured for that $5K check.
Blankenship not only played more than any other Eagles rookie (291 defensive snaps plus 56 more in the playoffs), he produced more, grading out as the ninth-best safety in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, including the A-Rod pick and a strip of Deebo Samuel in the NFC Championship Game which he also recovered.
That’s still a small sample size and there’s no guarantee that Blankenship can turn that kind of efficacy into a constant when on the field as a three-down player.
But. what you can say definitively is that Blankenship has already erased the longshot label and earned the opportunity to prove what he looked like as a rookie is real.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Blankenship said of his quick rise from the bottom of the depth chart to penciled-in starter. “I love the game. I want to play it for as long as my body allows me to. Rent’s due every day. That’s what [coach Nick] Sirianni talks about. No matter what position you’re in, I haven’t felt that I’ve arrived yet.
“I’m still staying humble, staying hungry and that’s going to last throughout my career.”
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
