Get to know the Eagles’ 3 undrafted rookies on the 53-man roster: Reed Blankenship, Josh Jobe, Josh Sills

The Eagles announced their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday afternoon, and it featured three undrafted free agents in offensive lineman Josh Sills, defensive back Josh Jobe, and safety Reed Blankenship.

The three undrafted free agents on the roster are the most since 2016, when the team kept four of them (wide receiver Paul Turner, offensive lineman Dillon Gordon, defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao, and cornerback C.J. Smith).

Since then, the Eagles kept one undrafted free agent in 2017 (running back Corey Clement), one in 2018 (defensive lineman Bruce Hector), two in 2019 (linebacker T.J. Edwards, offensive lineman Nate Herbig), zero in 2020, and one in 2021 (tight end Jack Stoll).

The Eagles enter the 2022 season with eight rookies, including all five draft picks.

“We wanted to recognize that because we had a smaller draft class, we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to make this team,” general manager Howie Roseman said.

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Blankenship, 23, arguably had one of the best performances in training camp. He flashed during joint practices and all three exhibitions, totaling 17 tackles, while also appearing on special teams. He recorded a big hit in the preseason finale when he lifted Dolphins running back Salvon Ahmed off the ground and violently brought him down.

Blankenship appeared as a starter across five seasons at Middle Tennessee State (55 games, 50 starts). He recorded an astonishing 419 career tackles, including 26½ for losses, with 19 passes defensed and nine interceptions.

“Reed is an interesting guy,” Roseman said. “You don’t see many [five-year starters] going. We evaluate everything he did, and he continued to show up. He has a feel. He’s got physical tools, he’s always around the ball.”

Sills, 24, was a team captain at Oklahoma State and started in 23 of 25 games over two seasons. He earned first-team All-Big 12 honors as a senior, while appearing at three spots across the line: left tackle, left guard, and right tackle. As an Eagle, the 6-foot-6, 325-pounder has appeared mostly as a guard in training camp.

The team preferred Sills over Jack Anderson, who was waived after playing in 85 snaps as a rookie last season.

“We had a lot of tough decisions on the offensive line,” Roseman said. “That was probably the toughest position group for us to cut down. [Sills has] got long arms. He’s powerful. He’s versatile. He can play inside or outside. ... The guy has talent in his body. When you talk about [Sills and Anderson], they play different positions. We tried to figure out what we had and what we were looking for. It was a tough call.”

In scouting DeVonta Smith and Landon Dickerson out of Alabama, the Eagles discovered Jobe, who displayed a physical presence at outside cornerback.

Heading into camp, the Eagles went heavy at the position with the hopes of finding quality depth behind starters Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and Avonte Maddox. Despite getting off to a slow start and missing OTAs due to injury, Jobe leaped past the other young defensive backs this summer. He deflected multiple passes during joint practices, and also flashed throughout the preseason.

Jobe sustained an injury to his left elbow late in camp, and he didn’t participate during joint practice with the Dolphins nor the preseason finale. Depending on the seriousness of the injury, there’s a chance the Eagles place Jobe on injured reserve, which would clear an additional roster spot. In that circumstance, he’d be eligible to return from IR in Week 4.

“We knew [Jobe] obviously from the Alabama connection,” Roseman said. “From Day 1 when he came in here, he came in with the right mindset. This is a big, long, physical, instinctive corner who’s played at a high level in the SEC. I’m watching [receivers] from this year’s draft, and I see Josh in man coverage on these guys. We felt very fortunate to get him after the draft.”