Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: A Saftey Who Keeps Climbing The Rankings

Reed Blakenship has had a busy offseason with surgery and a new contract along with coaching and personnel changes, but he continues to ascend in our rankings.

Eagles S Reed Blankenship / John McMullen/Eagles SI

PHILADELPHIA – He had groin surgery, signed a new contract, and is now adjusting to a new defensive coordinator and running mate on the back end of the Eagles defense. All in one offseason.

Yes, life moves pretty quickly in the NFL, as is the case with Reed Blankenship. Through it all, he continues to ascend as a potentially top-15 safety in the NFL and certainly one of the Eagles’ top players.

Entering his third season in the NFL after arriving in Philly as an undrafted free agent, he checks in at No. 15 on our list of the top 25 best Eagles players. Last year, he was No. 23 on our list.

The list has become an annual affair of SI.com Eagles writer Ed Kracz and John McMullen as the two reporters submit their top 25 lists at the same time so each would be unaffected by the others. No. 1 on the list is awarded 25 points and so on down the list with No. 25 receiving one point.

Kracz and McMullen were nearly identical in their ranking of Blankenship, with McMullen putting him No. 16 on his list and Kracz at No. 15 for a total of 21 points.

The list so far looks like this:

No. 25: Kelee Ringo

No. 24 Cooper DeJean

No. 23: Isaiah Rodgers

No. 22: Avonte Maddox

No. 21: Brandon Graham

No. 20: Mekhi Becton

No. 19: Milton Williams

No. 18: Cam Jurgens

No. 17: Devin White

No. 16: Bryce Huff

Blankenship led the Eagles in tackles (108) and interceptions (3) last year and has become such a valued member of the defense that general manager Howie Roseman bought out his last year of restricted free agency by adding one more year to take him through the 2025 season.

The two-year value of the contract, which includes the final year of his prior contract is $4.56 million with $3.935M guaranteed. He received a $1.85M signing bonus. His deal calls for a $1.356M salary-cap charge this season and just $2.095 in 2025.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity for the most part, for Howie and them to get it done,” he said this past spring. “I want to be in Philly. I want to play for Philly and that speaks more than just getting a contract. I love football. I love how these fans cheer for us and how they critique us. I love playing here and I want to play here for as long as I can.”

Blankenship will enter the season healthy after offseason surgery on his groin and look to be an integral piece to the puzzle DC Vic Fangio is constructing. A safety’s role is extremely important from a communication standpoint in Fangio’s scheme, and that job will likely rest on Blankenship’s shoulders.

There are also some moving parts on the defense this year with the Eagles adding C.J. Gardner-Johnson at safety and drafting a par of young defensive backs with their first two picks this year – Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

“It makes me more excited to come out and play, play for everybody who is going to be a part of this program, who we (got) in the draft and who we signed so far,” said Blankenship. “It’s going to be a blast. It’s going to be fun this year.”

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