Reed’s Unwavering Resilience Press enter or click to view image in full size Photo Courtesy of Wikapedia.com The Undrafted Rookie has Earned NFL Starting Safety. Now He’s Securing the 3rd Level of the Eagles Defense.
Reed Blankenship doesn’t care that he wasn’t drafted to an NFL Team. He’s the starting safety for the Philadelphia Eagles now.
Blankenship grew up in Athens, Alabama. As a multi-sport athlete at Limestone High School, there isn’t much that Reed didn’t accomplish on a High School Football Field. His high school stats included nearly 3,200 yards rushing, over 1,000 yards receiving, and 1,050 yards passing.
In college, Blankenship played at Middle Tennessee State University. As a Blue Raider, he racked-up the awards. Reed was C-USA All-Freshman and all conference. He was first-team and second-team all-conference. He was Middle Tennessee Defensive Ironman of the Year and was selected to the East–West Shrine Bowl .
Before returning for a fifth season, Reed was eligible for the 2021 NFL Draft. He decided to return to play the whole year. In 2022, he was not drafted by an NFL team before signing with the Eagles as an UDFA.
In 2022 against the Green Bay Packers, CJ Gardner-Johnson suffered an injury in a collision with Packers wide receiver Christian Watson. Blankenship entered the game and had an interception against Aaron Rodgers.
This season, he’ll be part of a defensive plan that will have to contend with Stephon Diggs, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans, Cooper Kupp, Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel, and DK Metcalf.
In 2023, he’s planning to safeguard the Eagles secondary and help to keep all of the above receivers from incredible fantasy outputs.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington, PA.
