Undrafted Free Agents like Reed Blankenship are Easy to Overlook

All the hype is on the first-round guys, then it becomes a guessing game of sorts as the rest of the NFL draft evolves from round to round.

Undrafted players are never included in any mock draft.

If safety Reed Blankenship was in any mock drafts a season ago, kudos.

The Eagles undrafted free agent played more than any of the Eagles' rookies last year, more than first-round defensive tackle Jordan Davis, second-round offensive lineman Cam Jurgens, and third-round linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Perhaps the numbers are skewed with Davis since he missed four games with an injury until you factor in that Blankenship was inactive for four straight games and five of the first six. His first defensive snaps didn’t come until Week 11 when he got all of two against the Colts before getting 35 against the Packers the following week.

Blankenship took off from there when Chauncey Gardner-Johnson went out with a lacerated kidney. He ended up playing 291 snaps on defense.

It’s anybody’s guess which Eagles UDFA will play a role this year, but the odds are pretty good that it will be someone. T.J. Edwards was a UDFA in 2019 and look at how well he has developed.

As for hyped rookies from last year, here are their snap counts:

Davis: 224

Jurgens: 35

Dean: 34

LB Kyron Johnson: 18

TE Grant Calcaterra: 227

Thing is, now Davis, Jurgens, and Dean will most definitely be counted on to play more. A lot more. Maybe even Johnson and Calcaterra, too.

“I think that's part of the exciting thing,” said GM Howie Roseman recently. “When you look at our first three picks last year, Jordan played the most of those guys. Missed some time with injury but those guys are ready to play and they are ready to contribute.

"We knew when we were drafting them last year we were drafting them because we thought they were the best players, not necessarily because they were the guys ready to fill spots at a position of need.

“So, as we look at our team this year, knowing that those guys can take a step forward and be part of it, and being comfortable with the young players playing and young players that have talent and that have work ethic and get put in that spot.

"We even saw it this year when we put young players in spots and how they stepped up. I don't think that's something we're afraid of.”

Ready or not, the redshirt comes off this year for the top three picks, and, with the expected losses coming on defense and at running back, with Miles Sanders likely leaving, this year’s crop likely won’t have the luxury of red-shirting.

Picks No. 10 and 30 in this year’s draft, and maybe even beyond, have to be ready to contribute.

Maybe even an undrafted free agent, too.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.