The Philadelphia Eagles have become one of the best teams in football due to their draft record. Over the last four drafts, Philadelphia has acquired Pro Bowl and All-Pro caliber players on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n
One of the best stories over that time, though, has been the use of UDFAs for the team.<\/p>\n
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And no undrafted free agent has been a better story than starting safety Reed Blankenship. Signed by the team following the 2022 draft, Blankenship has grown not just into a solid starter on the team, but a great leader as well.<\/p>\n
Through three seasons, Blankenship has recorded eight interceptions and has been a consistent player on a defense with three different play-callers. Despite that continuous change, Blankenship seems to be just scratching the surface on his career.<\/p>\n
And that is why PFF writer Jonathon Macri believes he’s the most underrated player on the roster.<\/p>\n
“On a Super Bowl-winning roster, there will always be some unsung heroes whose contributions might get overlooked, and Blankenship stands out,” Macri wrote. “As a former undrafted free agent, Blankenship has assumed a locked-in starter over the past two seasons and delivered an 87.2 PFF coverage grade, which ranks eighth among 129 qualifying safeties since 2022.”<\/p>\n
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The Eagles traded away Chauncey Gardner-Johnson this offseason in the hopes one of their younger stars in Sydney Brown or Andrew Mukuba step up. A big reason why the feel confident, though, is that they have Blankenship to lead the young players through the struggles of an NFL season.<\/p>\n
And that shows just how important Blankenship has been throughout his career.<\/p>\n