Eagles All-22 Film Review: Reed Blankenship can build on an impressive rookie season

Earlier than we actually get into the depths of the low season, it’s time to overview the 2022 draft class. I received’t overview anybody until they performed sufficient snaps (so this will likely be a really quick collection!). That is the final participant I’m going to overview, however I believe he’s probably the most fascinating to speak about Reed Blankenship shocked everybody together with his play final 12 months, so let’s take a look at what he did and what summarize what I take into consideration him transferring ahead.

Beforehand: Jordan Davis | Cam Jurgens

Fingers up – who had Reed Blankenship as Professional Soccer Focus’ Tenth-best security this 12 months then? The numbers are sturdy in just about each class, albeit a really small pattern dimension after all. The actually fascinating factor is the variety of deep snaps Blankenship performed as a result of quite a lot of the safeties the Eagles have added this offseason excel within the field or within the slot. This offers him a unbelievable likelihood of taking part in quite a lot of snaps this 12 months, even below a brand new defensive coordinator.

+ He confirmed some excellent reps as a run defender, the place he got here flying downhill to make a play on the ball service. That is very important for a split-safety protection.

+ His instincts appeared actually sturdy. He didn’t appear phased by play-fakes or misdirections and at all times appeared close to the ball.

+ He confirmed good tackling method and his athletic vary appeared actually good at occasions. He’s obtained a very good construct for a security.

+ He confirmed such understanding of the Eagles’ protection for a rookie. Taking part in security on this protection just isn’t straightforward and it’s an enormous credit score to Blankenship that he performed so effectively as a rookie.

+ I really like watching him play. He was certainly one of my favourite tales of final 12 months and his mixture of instincts, dimension, and vary is de facto enjoyable to look at.

– His athleticism and top-end pace, particularly in area and when not transferring in a straight line, feels fairly common at greatest.

– I don’t know if he has the flexibility and canopy abilities to play any man protection from the slot. I believe he may be a deep zone defender solely and I’m not totally bought on his protection abilities.

As somebody who was very impressed with Blankenship, I assumed I’d return and skim some scouting reviews on him to try to discover out why he went undrafted. That is the abstract from Bleacher Report’s scouting profile:

Blankenship performs with bodily arms when taking over blocks. At occasions he does wrestle to disengage, however he performs his leverage and units the sting.Although he has proven to run by ball carriers when taking part in within the field, when tackling, he can get overextended and compelled to dive at higher athletes, resulting in missed tackles.

Finally, Blankenship was a profitable participant at Center Tennessee State, the place he left because the main tackler at school historical past. A participant with good motion abilities, he could also be tapped out together with his athletic potential. He’s a constant participant who’s draftable with backup potential.

And right here is the abstract from NFL.com:

Versatile security with satisfactory dimension and good athleticism. Blankenship is a group chief who’s aggressive and closely skilled in a protection that required his versatility. He’s prepared and prepared in run assist however has an issue with deal with angles that causes too many misses from quite a lot of areas across the area. He’s athletic and his route recognition is nice when he’s taking part in from up prime; nevertheless, he lacks top-end pace to stick with downfield assignments. He might want to shine on particular groups to enhance his probabilities of making it within the league.

Each of these reviews really feel fairly honest truly. They each point out his largest situation is an absence of top-end pace and missed tackles. We didn’t actually see that bounce out as an enormous situation final 12 months. Nonetheless, I’ve to remind myself continually about this, the pattern dimension may be very small. Not solely is the pattern dimension small, but it surely’s additionally vital to recollect he’s going to be taking part in in a brand new protection this 12 months below a brand new defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. As a lot as I imagine in Blankenship, I most likely shouldn’t be completely shocked if he does have a barely underwhelming season.

However… I believe Blankenship goes to have season and I really feel fairly assured that he’ll be a starter regardless of what I mentioned above. I believe he’s one of the best deep security the Eagles have and I count on him to start out with Terrell Edmunds who is better closer to the line of scrimmage. I count on Sydney Brown to rotate in too however he’s additionally higher nearer to the road of scrimmage.

Reed Blankenship is unlikely to be an elite security and he fell within the draft due to considerations over his pace and tackling. However he confirmed a very sturdy understanding of the protection final 12 months and Jonathan Gannon asks so much out of his safeties. That protection just isn’t straightforward to play and for a rookie, Blankenship was actually spectacular. He’s clearly sensible, and instinctive and it’s fairly unimaginable how effectively he performed for a UDFA. Security is arguably the one place (exterior of quarterback) the place athleticism is barely overrated and Blakenship confirmed actually good instincts and route recognition. I wouldn’t be shocked if his profession arc follows somebody like Marcus Epps who was additionally a late-round decide that I actually favored.

The Eagles added quite a lot of safeties this offseason, and it’s straightforward to foretell Blankenship because the odd one out whenever you take a look at the profiles of the gamers they added however, I’m predicting season for Blankenship.