12 hours ago, Portyansky said:

He had 1 really bad game (today), but he has shown more good than bad so far. Not making excuses, but it's possible his ribs aren't 100% yet.

 

I would even say  "Really bad" is an understatement. 

Reed was awful yesterday. He’s never been the best guy but he’s always been someone that seems to go out and try his best. He made a play when it mattered most.

He's now tied with Slay in interceptions for the year.

If you had the choice between one of the 2, which is better:

1.  Someone who provides excellent blanket coverage and defends the pass well, but has terrible hands and never intercepts.

2.  A bawl hawk in the secondary, but is poor in coverage when the situation demands it.

I'm hoping that he becomes something like a Terry Hoage type of safety, who was a ball hawking safety back in our Randall Cunningham years.

 

Once again, I think people are exaggerating the negative a bit. Tough day, sure --- as if that doesn't happen to everybody. Blankenship is an undrafted player in his 2nd season. He still has a lot of growing to do. He wasn't a polished product when he entered the NFL and is still way ahead of expectations. He's missed a couple games with injuries this season and has had a different group of players around him in the secondary almost every game. The entire secondary had a bad day of coverage. It wasn't just Reed. According to PFF, Blankenship had the highest coverage grade in the Eagles' secondary:

Blankenship: 60.6

Byard: 60.3

Brown: 57.2

Slay: 55.1

Bradberry: 50.0

Ricks: 31.9

 

Honestly, I'm not all that worried. I think he'll still have many better games this season. I doubt people will still be crying about this game in a few weeks. 

On 10/30/2023 at 5:48 AM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

He was abused in coverage all day and then made a good play on a ball that was thrown right to him. In general, I like him but I don't think he's nearly as good as a lot of Eagles fans want to believe he is.

He’s the new Quintin Mikell/Sean Considine type. Worked his way up to a starter job and now we get to see if he can keep it and turn into a pro bowl type player or be out of the league soon. 

4 hours ago, 20dawk4life said:

He’s the new Quintin Mikell/Sean Considine type. Worked his way up to a starter job and now we get to see if he can keep it and turn into a pro bowl type player or be out of the league soon. 

Both he and Mikell were undrafted and started as ST players. Mikell had to wait a lot longer for a chance to start, but did develop into a Pro Bowl player. He was solid in every area. Considine was a draft pick that underperformed. He couldn't tackle and had no playmaking qualities. He and Blankenship have nothing in common. 

The death of this team will be the defensive philosophy and back-end of the defense. We play a passive off coverage defense. Our CBs are older and, 1 was just re-signed for big money (so, he isn't going anywhere for at least another year). Both are slower and because of coverage assignments do not generate turnovers. Our defense as a whole does not generate turnovers. Last year what made that team so special was CJGJ and the turnovers he created to give the offense short fields. It was team contagious. The drop off as soon as he got hurt was immense. Now, the FO did their due diligence and offered him a contract commensurate to better than market value. CGJG chose to overplay his hand. Beyond all that, the Eagles do not develop their defensive players who can create turnovers. Anytime they have a DB who can create turnovers, they let them go. Rasul Douglas, Brandon Boykin (injury more than contract was his demise) were both players who were drafted and could naturally create turnovers. But neither remained here for 2nd contracts.

Watching the game against WAS you saw their LBs stuck to Dallas Goedert. They covered well, limited yac and tackled well. Even with all the yardage the Eagles put up. The only real busted play against their defense was the DeVonta wide open TD. In the Jets game, clearly the NYJ and their GM (Douglas) value LBs. Williams and Mosely were all over the field making plays, in the backfield, dropping in coverage. Yes, they were high draft picks (Douglas may not have had anything to do with those picks) and the Jets for yearsssss have been a bottom feeding franchise. But the point remains. They make a big difference in that defense. I don't ever see that type of aggression and posture from the Eagle back end. I don't see impactful plays being made beyond the Dline. I often see the absorption of what offenses are doing instead of dictating. Nkobe Dean TO ME, is showing and proving why he dropped. I just don't see him being impactful as a MIKE.

8 hours ago, 20dawk4life said:

He’s the new Quintin Mikell/Sean Considine type. Worked his way up to a starter job and now we get to see if he can keep it and turn into a pro bowl type player or be out of the league soon. 

Good comparison.  He's...what we have right now.  He looked good last year next to CJG who left and they replaced him with Edmunds who sucks.  They drafted Sidney Brown who I'm hopeful about.  If Byard works out and gets a new deal here, potentially he and Brown could be the starters.  Byard brings the veteran presence they needed even if his talent level is somewhat declined.  The awareness, preparation, seeing things in the offense, etc. that they can learn from.  

 

If he can be a quality starter, he's exceeded his (non) draft status.  Having Byard should help him, as he's now the second best safety on the field, not the only safety.   

But, Reed's gotten a different lens put on him as a result of the way the team protected him in the PS.  They treated him like a seasoned vet keeping him off the field the entire PS, whereas other starters on the defensive side had to play.   That changed the perception many people had about him.  But, he was STILL just a 2nd year UDFA who hasn't played a full season's worth of games yet in the NFL.  At this 'advanced' stage of his career, he now has TEN career starts... He's played in only 16 games.  He's far from a finished product, and he came in as an unpolished, unheralded UDFA.  And despite that, he's right now the 2nd best safety on the team (I'll give the nod to Byard at this point), and he was the best safety we had available to start the year.   That doesn't make him an All-Pro, but compared to the alternatives we currently have, he's the best option.  That doesn't mean that he should be looked at as a long term starter just yet.  He's still got a lot to prove.  But, he should be given those opportunities because there's literally no one else they could use.

7 hours ago, brkmsn said:

Both he and Mikell were undrafted and started as ST players. Mikell had to wait a lot longer for a chance to start, but did develop into a Pro Bowl player. He was solid in every area. Considine was a draft pick that underperformed. He couldn't tackle and had no playmaking qualities. He and Blankenship have nothing in common. 

His play style is similar to considine. Just already way better at it. Both struggle in man coverage and both are better having the plays in front of them to come up and make a tackle vs chasing in coverage like an Ed Reed or Charles Woodson once he switched to S full time. 

On 10/30/2023 at 12:48 AM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

 I don't think he's nearly as good as a lot of Eagles fans want to believe he is.

He's not the only player in that category.

On 11/1/2023 at 3:33 PM, 20dawk4life said:

His play style is similar to considine. Just already way better at it. Both struggle in man coverage and both are better having the plays in front of them to come up and make a tackle vs chasing in coverage like an Ed Reed or Charles Woodson once he switched to S full time. 

Much better in coverage in space than Considine.  Also seems a much better hitter/tackler.

On 11/1/2023 at 8:25 AM, seengreen said:

The death of this team will be the defensive philosophy and back-end of the defense. We play a passive off coverage defense. Our CBs are older and, 1 was just re-signed for big money (so, he isn't going anywhere for at least another year). Both are slower and because of coverage assignments do not generate turnovers. Our defense as a whole does not generate turnovers. Last year what made that team so special was CJGJ and the turnovers he created to give the offense short fields. It was team contagious. The drop off as soon as he got hurt was immense. Now, the FO did their due diligence and offered him a contract commensurate to better than market value. CGJG chose to overplay his hand. Beyond all that, the Eagles do not develop their defensive players who can create turnovers. Anytime they have a DB who can create turnovers, they let them go. Rasul Douglas, Brandon Boykin (injury more than contract was his demise) were both players who were drafted and could naturally create turnovers. But neither remained here for 2nd contracts.

Watching the game against WAS you saw their LBs stuck to Dallas Goedert. They covered well, limited yac and tackled well. Even with all the yardage the Eagles put up. The only real busted play against their defense was the DeVonta wide open TD. In the Jets game, clearly the NYJ and their GM (Douglas) value LBs. Williams and Mosely were all over the field making plays, in the backfield, dropping in coverage. Yes, they were high draft picks (Douglas may not have had anything to do with those picks) and the Jets for yearsssss have been a bottom feeding franchise. But the point remains. They make a big difference in that defense. I don't ever see that type of aggression and posture from the Eagle back end. I don't see impactful plays being made beyond the Dline. I often see the absorption of what offenses are doing instead of dictating. Nkobe Dean TO ME, is showing and proving why he dropped. I just don't see him being impactful as a MIKE.

I thought the game plan two weeks ago was a lot better than last week's. I felt they were playing a lot more man last week. We also didn't have the same level of pressure up front all game. Lost both Carter and Milton in the game to injuries and they didn't return. Maybe they couldn't play the same type of game play against Washington or maybe they felt they matched up differently.

We also weren't aided by the offense turning over the ball in the redzone, actually inside the 5, multiple times. Not getting those points and putting even more pressure on Washington's offense really ended up putting more pressure on our defense which was undermanned all game. I honestly think it was just a messy game and there have been a lot of messy games this season. The team needs to clean up all phases of their game and be more consistent. They have the talent and depth to roll teams.

 

25 minutes ago, Devaster said:

I thought the game plan two weeks ago was a lot better than last week's. I felt they were playing a lot more man last week. We also didn't have the same level of pressure up front all game. Lost both Carter and Milton in the game to injuries and they didn't return. Maybe they couldn't play the same type of game play against Washington or maybe they felt they matched up differently.

We also weren't aided by the offense turning over the ball in the redzone, actually inside the 5, multiple times. Not getting those points and putting even more pressure on Washington's offense really ended up putting more pressure on our defense which was undermanned all game. I honestly think it was just a messy game and there have been a lot of messy games this season. The team needs to clean up all phases of their game and be more consistent. They have the talent and depth to roll teams.

 

I think the recent addition of Byard forced them to play more man.  Man is much simpler for someone new coming in to be able to play immediately.   I expect a lot of different looks this week with the full week of prep for Dallas and even more coming out of the bye.

On 11/1/2023 at 11:25 AM, seengreen said:

The death of this team will be the defensive philosophy

Defensive philosophy and a lack of defensive talent when it come to the LBs and DBs.

Look at Schwartz with the Browns, his defense seem to be doing well with the talent he has to work with.

Unfortunately Desai if falling into the same trap that Schwartz fell into, Schwartz had the same lack of talent and feared blitzing, likewise for Desai.

Because teams seem to be throwing at will Desai should come to the conclusion that he has nothing to lose by blitzing, just put your two best converge LBs on the field and blitz at least 2 of the back 7. 

It's hard to believe a player can actually have a bad game and still play well the following week. You wouldn't think it possible after reading the overreactions after the bad game. 

Blankenship had a PFF grade of 91.0 against Dallas with a coverage grade of 89.1.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, NOTW said:

 

 

I wouldn't put much stock in Pro Bowl fan voting. I'm not even convinced they really factor that in. 

I do believe Blankenship is having a good year overall and am excited about his next couple seasons. Whether he gets to add "Pro Bowl" to his resume or not this year doesn't really matter to me. 

I have a plugin that blocks content from Twitter, so apologies if this is duplicating things, but Blankenship leads NFC Pro Bowl voting for his position. The only other Eagle in that position is Kelce, so he's obviously doing something right. I can hardly imagine Eagles fans swamping the voting for a safety not named Brian Dawkins

 He's borderline serviceable. Maybe Tom Brady was right about the NFL being mediocre if this dude is pro-bowl material .

 

On the bright side. Being young and having a pro-bowl resume  maybe we can dump him on some **** team for a 2nd. 

35 minutes ago, Swimm said:

 He's borderline serviceable. Maybe Tom Brady was right about the NFL being mediocre if this dude is pro-bowl material .

 

On the bright side. Being young and having a pro-bowl resume  maybe we can dump him on some **** team for a 2nd. 

Calling him "borderline serviceable" is a joke, honestly. Last season, I believe Epps had a PFF grade just below 60 on the season. He was considered "solid" around the league and had interest as an UFA and signed a 2 year / $12M contract. Blankenship's PFF grade to date is a very good 76.0. 

I'm not sure how high I'd rank Blankenship among NFL safeties, but you are either underestimating his play or just being over-critical. He's been our most consistent player on the back end. I'm not quite sure why some here don't appreciate him as a starter. 

1 hour ago, brkmsn said:

Calling him "borderline serviceable" is a joke, honestly. Last season, I believe Epps had a PFF grade just below 60 on the season. He was considered "solid" around the league and had interest as an UFA and signed a 2 year / $12M contract. Blankenship's PFF grade to date is a very good 76.0. 

I'm not sure how high I'd rank Blankenship among NFL safeties, but you are either underestimating his play or just being over-critical. He's been our most consistent player on the back end. I'm not quite sure why some here don't appreciate him as a starter. 

Because he had 1 bad game... 🙄

10 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Because he had 1 bad game... 🙄

... and to be honest, it was only a bad game to his standard. That bad game was twice as good as everybody (in the secondary) else's bad game(s) this season and he still made a key play in that game with the INT.

It's funny how much people have praised Bland this year. Setting a record for pick-sixes in one season is a great feat in itself, and so is 8 INTs (in just 12 games) but in the last two games, he has allowed more passing yards than any other DB over a 2 game stretch. He'll probably get all the accolades after the season, regardless of the bad games.