The rookie undrafted free agent displayed some T.J. Edwards vibes is his first extended playing time as a replacement for the injured C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Nick Sirianni had a contact or two with ties to MTSU, though, including current Colts play-caller Parks Frazier, who worked at the school in 2015 and kept close connections there. By 2018, Frazier was Frank Reich’s assistant with Indianapolis and grew close to Sirianni.
“A couple of the guys that I coached with in Indy were at Middle Tennessee State,” Sirianni said. “When we signed (Blankenship) to a rookie free agent deal, they said, this guy is a stud. You don’t understand this guy. We love this guy. This guy, one of them was Parks Frazier. He was like, ‘man, you don’t understand how special that kid was for us.’”
When it comes to undrafted free agents in Philadelphia, the current template is T.J. Edwards, who has progressed from an afterthought in 2019 to star MIKE LB by 2022.
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Edwards has a lot in common with Blankenship as a high-level producer at the college level with Wisconsin but one who was overlooked because of a poor stopwatch performance.
Now in his fourth pro season, Edwards, 26, is the quarterback of the second-ranked defense in the NFL and grading out as the fifth-best LB in the league, according to ProFootballFocus.
Blankenship, 23, is on the first year of his own journey and has mimicked Edwards’ progression to date, from catching the eye of the coaching staff over the summer with his physicality.
“When we had pads on. It just seemed like every time he was coming up and making tackles,” Sirianni said. “We liked him without pads on and now we really like him when he’s able to show his physicality out on the field.
“So, I think that’s where we really started talking about him more and more and more.”
From there, Blankenship earned a spot on the 53, made his NFL debut at Arizona on Oct. 9, and surpassed K’Von Wallace on the depth chart by Week 11 in Indianapolis where he became Jonathan Gannon’s third safety in dime packages and the top backup behind Marcus Epps and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon deferred the question about how Blankenship passed Wallace on the depth chart to DB coaches Dennard Wilson and D.K. McDonald.
“I know this,” said Gannon, “the guy is a pro. Like he came in here as rookie and said, I know this is my role right now, but when I’m called upon, I need to be ready to play good football.”
By Sunday night’s win over Green Bay, when Gardner-Johnson suffered a lacerated kidney while making a tackle late in the first quarter, Blankenship was ready.
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The results were six tackles, tying for the team lead in the game and his first career interception in 35 defensive reps for Blankenship en route to being Philadelphia’s highest-graded defensive player per PFF.
“The guy takes elite notes,” said Gannon. “He asks a lot of questions. He doesn’t memorize or regurgitate. He understands. There is a difference between memorizing my adjustments and the defenses and understanding the why behind that.
“He’s obviously very smart, like all those guys in that room are, and that’s a thinking position. He is a big, physical guy that can move. Once he gets comfortable, I think the more and more he plays, the better off he’ll play.”
The game wasn’t perfect, though, as Blankenship took the wrong angle against speedy receiver Christian Watson, turning what would have been a nice gain from backup Jordan Love into a 63-yard touchdown.
Blankenship’s confidence is growing, though, and he figures to learn from his mistakes.
“You’ve got to work the nerves out a little bit,” Blankenship admitted. “I haven’t played defensive snaps in forever but as soon as I made that hit I was like, ‘I’m back.’ I’m back in college, back in high school again. Ready to play football.’”
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