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.
One of the best stories over that time, though, has been the use of UDFAs for the team.
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.
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.
And that is why PFF writer Jonathon Macri believes he's the most underrated player on the roster.
"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."
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.
And that shows just how important Blankenship has been throughout his career.