On Roob’s notes: What can the Eagles expect from Reed Blankenship after shaky end to 2023? originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
What can we expect this year from Reed Blankenship? An insane statistic from Don Burroughs. And 10 reasons why LeSean McCoy should be a Hall of Famer.
Roob’s 10 random Eagles observations are now less than 10 days away from training camp, and can you believe this will be the 12th camp since the Eagles left Lehigh?
1. Was Reed Blankenship’s decline in the second half of last year just a product of the entire defense struggling, the Eagles facing a bunch of back-to-back elite teams, the defensive coordinator change and his groin injury that required offseason surgery? Or was it something more? When an undrafted player has immediate success, it doesn’t always mean he will be able to sustain it. A lot of undrafted guys regress after a quick start because there are usually good reasons why they don’t get drafted, and the longer he plays, the more they show up. That said, there’s a lot to like about Blankenship’s game – he’s tough, physical, smart and aggressive. But his regression was evident starting with the Bills game. In his first 12 career starts since 2022, he has thrown three interceptions, picked off 12 passes, recovered a fumble and been credited with six missed tackles. In his final seven games last year, he had an interception, picked off a pass and was credited with six missed tackles. We always take Pro Football Focus’ numbers with a grain of salt, but seven of PFF’s 11 lowest grades in his 19 career starts ended consecutively last year. Only the eye exam said he just wasn’t the same guy. The Eagles like Blankenship enough to give him a modest two-year contract extension in April, and they have no real options at safety. At the moment, the reserves are Sydney Brown – who is coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament and did not participate in the OTAs – and converted corner Mekhi Garner. My guess is Blankenship will be fine. Playing safety in the NFL with a torn groin is nearly impossible, and I saw enough positives from Blankenship when he replaced CJGJ in 2022, as well as the first half of last year, to have a lot of confidence in his game. But, like so many other players on this team, the last impression we had was not good. Whether it’s Dallas Goedert, Jordan Davis, Jalen Hurts, Josh Sweat, Avonte Maddox, Nakobe Dean, Blankenship and so on, half the players on this team have to prove that the way last year ended is not who they really are. I hope most of them do. It’s important that Blankenship is one of them.
two. When Jason Kelce retired, his remarkable franchise-record streak of 156 consecutive starts was set aside. Or it will officially disappear when the Eagles open the 2024 season against the Packers. Kelce’s streak was 10th-longest in history by a center. So who will have the Eagles’ longest streak after the 2024 opener? AJ Brown and Jordan Mailata have started 29 consecutive games since the Week 6 victory over the Cowboys in 2022. Neither started the previous week against Dallas – Jack Driscoll started for an injury to Mailata, and Brown did not start because the Eagles opened with three tight ends (Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, Grant Calcaterra), a defensive back (Miles Sanders) and a receiver (DeVonta Smith). At the current pace, if they don’t miss any games and remain with the Eagles and if the season continues to 17 games, Brown and Mailata will match Kelce’s streak in 2031.
3. Brian Westbrook is one of six players in the last 50 years with two rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns in the same game. In the Eagles’ 48-20 victory over the Cards in 2008 — that was the Thanksgiving Day game at the Linc four days after Donovan McNabb was benched for Kevin Kolb in Baltimore — Westbrook caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb and ran for a 1-yard TD in the first quarter, then caught a 2-yard TD in the second quarter and ran nine yards for his fourth TD in the third quarter. The only other players with two rushing and receiving TDs in the same game in the last half-century are the Raiders’ Harvey Williams against the Chargers in 1997, the Rams’ Marshall Faulk against the 49ers in 2000, the Jaguars’ Maurice Jones-Drew against the Bucs in 2011, The Chargers’ Austin Ekeler against the Steelers in 2021 and Miami’s De’Von Achane against the Broncos last year. The only other Eagles with four TDs in a game are Clarence Peaks in 1958 against the Cards at Franklin Field and Wilbert Montgomery twice against Washington – in 1978 at RFK and 1979 at Vet.
4. Most Eagles fans remember Rodney Peete’s 43-yard Hail Mary TD pass to Rob Carpenter just before halftime to give the Eagles a 38-7 halftime lead over the Lions on the way to a 58-game wild card victory. -37 at Vet But did you know that Carpenter only scored one other touchdown in his career and it was a seven-yarder three years earlier for the Jets in a 31-14 loss to the 49ers? And that was longer than any TD Peete threw during the 1995 regular season? And it was 14 yards more than any other catch in Carpenter’s career? And at the time there were 3third-The longest TD pass in Eagles postseason history, but wasn’t it Peete’s longest TD pass of the day?
5. Since Jeff Stoutland became offensive line coach in 2013, the Eagles have had six offensive linemen make a total of 22 Pro Bowls. During the same period, the Giants did not have any offensive lineman make the Pro Bowl.
6. Over the past three seasons, Jalen Hurts has 33 wins, and only Patrick Mahomes (36) and Josh Allen (35) have more. And that’s with three play-callers, two offensive coordinators and two quarterbacks coaches. And Quez Watkins, Jalen Reagor and JJ Arcega-Whiteside starting a total of 40 games.
7A. Most rushing yards in a game by an Eagle who had only one 100-yard rushing game as an Eagle: Leroy Harris’ 137 against the Packers in a 21–10 victory at Lambeau Field in 1979.
7B. Most receiving yards in a game by an Eagle who had just one 100-yard receiving game as an Eagle: Travis Fulgham’s 152 in a 38-29 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field in 2020.
7C. Most passing yards in a game by an Eagle who had just one 300-yard passing game as an Eagle: Vince Young’s 400 in a 38-20 loss to the Patriots at the Linc in 2011.
8. A large part of who wins the Eagles-Packers debut in Brazil will be whoever best deals with the challenges of travel, disruptions to sleep and diet, and general schedule disruptions. It’s hard enough to have a game like this in the middle of the season, but opening a season with a game half a world away against a very good opponent on a Friday night on another continent is something no team has ever had to deal with. before. Anyone who has ever taken a 9 or 10 hour flight knows how much it takes on you. You get dehydrated faster, your body gets sore sitting on a plane for so long, and you may feel exhausted when you land. Now deal with it and then open your football season. I’m sure the Eagles training staff will give the players extra fluids, make sure they are up and walking or stretching every hour or two, and do everything possible once they land to minimize the effects of an endless flight to São Paulo. But these are uncharted waters. No one has ever opened a season just days after a 10-hour flight. There is no guide for this. And the challenge is not only to rest, hydrate and eat properly before the opening game and, at the same time, prepare in the best possible way from a football point of view, but also to focus on recovery after the game, so that even with the long week you can be 100% recovered for the Falcões. The opener will set the tone for the rest of the season, and the Packers won’t be the Eagles’ only opponent.
9. Don Burroughs played just 64 games as an Eagle, but had 29 interceptions. That’s one interception every 2.2 games.
10. Since Friday was his 36thth anniversary, here are 10 reasons why LeSean McCoy should be a Hall of Famer as soon as he is eligible in 2026: 1) One of only five RBs in history with 11,000 rushing yards and 500 receptions. The other four (Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen) are all Hall of Famers; 2) One of only six quarterbacks with 11,000 rushing yards and at least a 4.5 per carry average; 3) His 10,434 rushing yards in the decade from 2010 to 2019 were the most in the NFL and 648 more than anyone else; 4) His 13,923 yards from scrimmage during the 2010s were the most in the NFL and 1,680 more than anyone else; 5) His 38 rushing TDs during the 2010s were the most in the NFL; 6) Only eight running backs in NFL history have won more than McCoy’s six Pro Bowls. All eight are in the Hall of Fame; 7) McCoy’s eight career touchdowns of at least 40 yards in the fourth quarter are the most in NFL history, and only eight other quarterbacks have half as many; 8), McCoy’s 518 catches are 12th-almost always by a running back; 9) McCoy’s 15,000 career scrimmage yards are 18th-most in NFL history by a running back, and 12 of the 15 most eligible backs are already in the Hall of Fame (all but Tiki Barber, Warrick Dunn and Steven Jackson); and 10) Pro Football Monitor has McCoy with a career grade of 79.55. All 19 eligible running backs over the age of 79 are already in the Hall of Fame.
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