Time To Believe In Eagles Safety

The Eagles believe in Reed Blankenship and Atlanta week is a good time for the team's fans to get on board with that sentiment.

Sep 5, 2024; Sao Paolo, Brazil; Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship (32) during practice at the Neo Química Arena. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - There will be an interesting dichotomy on “Monday Night Football” when a safety many Eagles fans wanted, veteran Justin Simmons, arrives with the Atlanta Falcons.

The natural comparison will be with the player the organization valued enough to ignore all the manufactured Simmons hype, second-year Philadelphia starter Reed Blankenship.

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio coached Simmons from 2019-2021 when he was the head coach in Denver and the Boston College product was earning two of his four second-team All-Pro nods so there was a natural connection to the made-up dots.

Nothing ever got off the ground with Simmons because GM Howie Roseman planned to pair a free-agent acquisition with Blankenship. Plan A was luring safety Xavier McKinney from the division rival New York Giants before the bidding went too high. Once McKinney signed with Green Bay, the Eagles shifted to a reunion with C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

Throughout all that maneuvering, Blankenship, 25, remained the constant, something many caught up in pedigree couldn’t wrap their heads around.

Blankenship, originally an undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State, earned the Eagles’ trust with 15 solid starts during the 2023 season in which he led the defensive with 108 tackles and three interceptions, grading out as the 18th-best safety in football, according to Pro Football Focus. Simmons, meanwhile, finished No. 42 during his last season with the Broncos.

The giveaway to the Eagles' belief in Blankenship was the buyout of his scheduled restricted free agency year in 2025. The idea was a younger, ascending more cost-effective player next to the newcomer so the idea of older, descending options who had history with Fangio like Simmons or Eddie Jackson was never the plan barring potential attrition.

Eagles S Reed Blankenship / John McMullen/Eagles SI

In Philadelphia's season-opening 34-29 win over Green Bay in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Blankenship was graded as the best Philadelphia player on either side of the ball after making eight tackles and intercepting Jordan Love while allowing a 30.6 passer rating when targeted.

The highlight play came when Zack Baun carried tight end Luke Musgrave down the seam, which complicated Love’s throwing angle before the savvy Blankenship darted into the throwing lane and snared the pass. The degree of difficulty was significant on the pick but Blankenship did a wonderful job securing the football and keeping it off the turf.

“He's a smart player, Fangio said of Blankenship. “He plays with a calmness that is important in the safety position. You need a guy that's able to quarterback the secondary, and many times that involves the linebackers, too, and he does a good job of that.

“I just think he's a confident, smart, instinctive player, and you need guys like that.”

To many the Simmons-to-Philadelphia door was officially closed on Aug. 15 when he finally agreed to a one-year, $8 million contract with the Falcons.

To those inside the NovaCare Complex, that manufactured door was never open.

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