Eagles' Defensive Chief Points To Intangibles With Reed Blankenship

To outsiders, the veteran safety is not playing up to his typical standard but Vic Fangio disagrees.

Oct 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Kelee Ringo (7) and linebacker Zack Baun (53) and safety Reed Blankenship (32) tackle New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson (84) in the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - To outsiders, Eagles’ steady veteran safety Reed Blankenship has not been playing at the level most expected of him.

To further that narrative, Pro Football Focus has the fourth-year veteran and team captain near the bottom of their safety rankings, putting the Middle Tennessee State product at No. 85 of the 88 eligible players on the back end

That’s uncharacteristic for Blankenship, whose PFF finishes over his first three seasons were No. 9 of 88, No. 18 of 95, and No. 29 of 98.

There are mitigating circumstances, according to veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who described Blankenship’s play on Tuesday when asked about the safety by Eagles On SI.

“It’s been good,” Fangio said before explaining the context of Blankenship’s role that isn’t going to be taken into context by outsiders.

The Rock

“He's been kind of a rock back there,” the highly-regarded DC said. “He's got a rookie safety [Drew Mukuba] next to him. His importance to the defense is more than just what you see from the playing part of it.

"He's the signal caller back there and keeps everybody calm.”

That steadying presence has been very important for the Eagles, who have a very young defense as a whole, and particularly on the back end.

Along with the rookie Mukuba opposite him, Blankenship is leading two second-year players at cornerback, albeit very talented ones in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, as well as a third-year CB in Kelee Ringo, who has played less than Mitchell or DeJean and is trying to lock down a position that has bounced back-and-forth between veteran Adoree’ Jackson and the Georgia product.

August trade pickup Jakorian Bennett, like Ringo, a third-year player, is also expected to re-enter the picture post-bye week.

Bennett is currently in the midst of his 21-day practice window to return from a pec injury that has kept him on injured reserve for the past five games.

To further complicate matters, the gifted and versatile DeJean toggles between an outside CB role in base-defense looks and the slot position when the Eagles are in their nickel defense.

No matter who is in and where, it's Blankenship's job to direct all the traffic, a role he handles seamlessly as the kind of high-football IQ player Philadelphia covets.

With all the youth and the moving parts on the outside opposite Mitchell, it would be wise not to dismiss the presence of Blankenship, an intangible that Fangio obviously values more than the film wonks.

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