Eagles Seventh-Rounder Has Traits That Remind Howie Roseman Of UDFA

The Philadelphia Eagles waited until the seventh round to draft a player at a key position, but maybe they got one who can develop into a starter.

Safety Cole Wisniewski talks to Eagles reporters on Zoom after being drafted in the seventh round. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – Cole Wisniewski was in the middle of nowhere, though he didn’t exactly say where the middle of nowhere he was. Maybe he didn’t know.

All he knew was he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, after his phone pinged with word that they were taking him in the seventh round of the draft Saturday evening, several hours after Day 3 had begun at noon with the fourth-round selections.

Wherever he was, he jumped on a Zoom call with reporters.

“I’m close to back home right now and kind of in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “I was with me and my wife’s family. Definitely a little bit of a longer day, but getting that call was surreal and a lot of hugs, a lot of cheers going on.”

He could have been near where he grew up in Sparta, Wisconsin, which is in the western part of the state and home to just under 10,000 people. Maybe it was somewhere in Texas, near the campus of Texas Tech, where he spent on year after having played for four years at North Dakota State.

Soon, he will be in Philadelphia and come face to face with the high expectations people in and around the city have for the Eagles.

“Obviously, the history of the Eagles and the tradition they have, from an outside perspective, is awesome,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to getting to learn more about it and everything that makes them tick, but, right now, it’s just me getting into that room and getting to know my teammates. I’m really excited about that.”

Cole Wisniewski's Traits Remind Howie Roseman Of Somebody

Eagles S Reed Blankenship laughs with reporters outside the NovaCare Complex. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

General manager Howie Roseman said Wisniewski has some traits that remind him of Reed Blankenship, which would be great for the Eagles if that is the case. Wisniewski is 6-3, 220 pounds, and used to be a linebacker.

Blankenship, who is 6-, 200, was undrafted in 2022 at the age of 23 and paid his dues early. He was inactive for six of his first seven games before getting a special teams role. He finally got his chance on defense when C.J. Gardner-Johnson was injured during a week 12 game in Green Bay. Blankenship never looked back, and by Year 2, he was starting.

That would be the hope for Wisniewski, with veteran Marcus Epps signed for only this season and Michael Carter, who will be tried at safety, on a one-year deal also.

In 2027, the Eagles figure to need another starting safety, unless Roseman does something at the position between now and the season opener.

Wisniewski just turned 24 in March, a little on the older side because a foot injury cost him his 2024 season and he decided to make his comeback in the Big 12 with the one more year of eligibility he had remaining.

“That was definitely a tough year (sitting out), because I really wanted to go out there and play, but just staying in the present, doing what I could do on a daily basis and being the best teammate I could be is really how I got through it,” he said. “Then moving on and going to Tech in this last year, I really think I just showed I can go and play against top-level speed and do really well against maybe some more spread teams.”

Asked what Eagles need to know about his play style, he kept it short: “Extremely instinctive, trust what I see on film and go attack from there.”