The Lessons Undrafted Rookies Can Learn From Reed Blankenship's Nfl Journey

The lessons undrafted rookies can learn from Reed Blankenship's NFL journey originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

He was an unknown, undrafted rookie safety from Middle Tennessee State, and the 2022 preseason finale in Miami was 23-year-old Reed Blankenship’s final chance to impress the coaches and try to secure a roster spot.

“I remember it just like it was yesterday,” Blankenship said after practice Wednesday. “I mean, I felt like I played every snap. And by the end of the game, I’m like, ‘If they don’t like me, I’m sure somebody will.’

“But I left it all out there. So if it was my last snap, it wasn’t meant to be. But if somebody likes me, they’re going to pick me up.”

The Eagles beat the Dolphins 48-10 that evening at Hard Rock Stadium, and Blankenship was all over the field. 

He didn’t start – Jaquiski Tartt and K’Von Wallace were the Eagles’ starting safeties – but he did play 47 snaps on defense and 22 on special teams and had five tackles on defense, including a tackle for loss shared with current Eagles assistant coach Matt Leo. He also had a special teams tackle.

Final cuts were three days later and Blankenship was sweating it out at the Marriott Courtyard in the Navy Yard.

“I was chilling,” he said. “I couldn’t even pack. I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to say that I’m already defeated. So I just sat in there waiting.

“I was nervous. I was up here alone and I was talking to my agent and called my parents, but you’re just sitting there waiting. You’re waiting on a call because that’s what I’ve been told. You wait on that call and if you don’t get a call, then you’re in the clear.

“After whatever time, I guess it was 4:30 or 5, after it passed and I didn’t get a call, I’m like, ‘Have I made it or not?’”

Nobody gets a call saying they’ve made the team. You only get a call if you haven’t. Starting safety Anthony Harris got the call on Aug. 29. So did Tartt. 

Eventually Blankenship realized that dreaded call wasn’t coming.

“You know, it’s surreal,” he said. 

Three years later, Blankenship has established himself as a very good starting safety, a starter on a Super Bowl championship team. His seven interceptions over the last two seasons are 5th-most among all NFL safeties and most on the Eagles. He’s the first Eagles safety with seven INTs in a two-year period since Brian Dawkins in 2005 and 2006.

He obviously has nothing to worry about when NFL rosters are trimmed to 53 on Tuesday, but he knows exactly what guys like Darius Cooper, Hollin Pierce, Lance Dixon and Maxen Hook are going through.

Blankenship always takes the undrafted guys under his wing. Nobody can really understand the challenge they’re facing unless you’ve been through it yourself.

“Try to stay healthy, that’s the No. 1 thing,” he said. “Just be available and always ask questions and build relationships with your special teams coach because that’s what I did. Started to meet with Tyler Brown on the side a little extra stuff here and there, but just let them know, ‘I’m here to play, I want to help the team as much as possible, regardless of what it is.’ 

“For some of the bubble guys, it’s tough. I’ve been there. And you’ve just got to keep going. You got to love it and show up every day ready to work.

“Being an undrafted free agent and then seeing the rookies or the guys come in as undrafted free agents, I know what they’re going through and I know it can be tough at times. But I know these dudes love the game because they wouldn’t be here (otherwise). They have that chip on their shoulder and I still to this day have a chip on my shoulder and I want to continue to prove people wrong.”

Blankenship said he’ll always hold onto the mentality of fighting the odds and making it into the NFL as an undrafted player. 

He was the Eagles’ only undrafted player to start in the Super Bowl, and he’s the only homegrown undrafted Eagle to start in either Super Bowl win. LeGarrette Blount and Rodney McLeod started in Super Bowl LII but both came up with other teams before joining the Eagles later in their careers.

“I’m my biggest critic,” Blankenship said after practice on Wednesday. “It’s hard for me to take praise at times, because I feel like if you take praise, you’re just going to be complacent. So I try to learn from my mistakes. Mistakes live in my head rent free, and I wanna build off of them, I want to learn from them. 

“And when I accomplish that, I feel like I’ve hit a milestone. So that’s what I continue to do to this day.”