The Washington Redskins landed a number of high profile undrafted free agents. Quin Blanding may well be the best of the bunch.
In the lead-up to the 2018 NFL Draft, many thought that Quin Blanding was going to be an early Day 3 pick. The Virginia product was fresh off a season in which he was the nation’s 13th ranked tackler, recording 121 stops. The most impressive part of this is that he did it as a safety, and he was one of the three at his position that ranked in the top 50 nation wide.
Blanding had talent and some had mocked him as early as Round 4. While it was always more likely that he would be a Round 5 guy, it was still a major surprise that he went undrafted. He came with a lot of proven production and had some of the better tackling technique in the class.
Despite all this, Blanding did fall to the ranks of the undrafted. And the Washington Redskins may have gotten a steal. And at the very least, they got a player who they were interested in.
Here’s an in-depth look at what Blanding offers as a player and what he might able to do for the Redskins if he can make the 53-man roster.
About Quin Blanding
Blanding grew up as a part of a football family. His father, Kevin Blanding, was a star at Glenville State and played under Rich Rodriguez during his time there. That said, the younger Blanding has turned into an even better player than his father.
Quin Blanding was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, and he was one of the best players in the country. Colleges loved his tackling ability and that gave him a chance to make an impact at Virginia. He ended up choosing the Cavaliers as his program, and he became a star there.
In four years as a starter with Virginia, Blanding was a huge impact player. He recorded a ridiculous 492 tackles during his four years, and never had a season in which he logged less than 115 tackles. He was able to help the Cavaliers field a stout stop unit, and that allowed his teams to have success.
That said, Blanding was still successful enough in coverage to be a well-rounded player. He logged 10 interceptions during his time in Virginia and that gave the team a huge boost.
Because of the stats alone, many were surprised that Blanding fell into the ranks of the undrafted. And on the surface, that makes sense. But, a deeper dive into the tape reveals that Blanding did go undrafted for a reason, even if it isn’t one that should cause major concern.
Blanding’s on-field performance
When watching Blanding in action, it’s clear that he is one of the better tacklers from the 2018 NFL Draft class. He has the statistical production to back this up, but on tape, he truly is an elite tackler.
Blanding has elite instincts and that allows him to quickly react to ball carrier on running plays. When running backs come out of the backfield with the ball, Blanding is quick to recognize they have the ball and he comes towards the line of scrimmage with a purpose. And then, the way he makes stops is even more impressive.
When Blanding is making a tackle, he does an excellent job of squaring up the player when he goes in for the stop. He takes very good angles and is able to ensure that he is in the proper position to hit his opponent hard. He wraps up his opponents very well and his play strength is very good. All of this, coupled with his high level of intelligence, should make him a solid tackler at the NFL level.
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The major concern surrounding Blanding is his lack of speed for the safety position. While the Redskins drafted one of the fastest safeties in the draft in Penn State’s Troy Apke (4.32 second 40-yard dash), Blanding’s time in the 40 wasn’t very good.
Blanding clocked in at 4.63 seconds and that generally matched what was seen on tape. He’s not much of an athlete and lacks deep speed. Blanding will have trouble keeping up with faster players and for that reason, he won’t fit well into a man coverage scheme. He definitely won’t be able to function as a deep, center field safety, and he will probably have to be a box safety if he wants to be effective.
While Blanding lacks versatility in the secondary, there’s a chance that he could also play the linebacker position. He has enough size (6-foot-2) to play there and he could bulk up from his 207 pound weight if a team wanted to play him there. However, it would be more likely that he would play linebacker occasionally in sub packages while mainly being a safety.
Blanding is an extraordinary player. He played in an absurd 98 percent of his team’s snaps during his four years in Virginia and his instincts and tackling skills are off the chart. He has the talent necessary to play a role in the NFL, but finding that with the Redskins could end up being difficult.
Why Blanding finding a role may be difficult
The problem for Blanding isn’t necessarily that he doesn’t have the talent to make the Redskins team. It’s that the team’s safety corps is already fairly strong, and it contains some well-regarded members in the unit.
As it stands, there are three players who are locks for the Redskins roster at the safety position. They are starters D.J. Swearinger and Montae Nicholson, and fourth round pick Troy Apke will also definitely make the roster. All have good cover skills, or at least the upside to have cover skills, and are very good athletes.
With three spots already decided, it seems that there may only be one safety spot up for grabs for the rest of the roster to fight for. Last season, the Redskins were content to carry just four safeties for a majority of the season, even after the surprise departure of Su’a Cravens. So, with a lot of young talent at their disposal already, the team probably will only carry four to start this season as well.
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If Blanding wants to make the Redskins roster, he is going to have to beat out two players in order to get that coveted spot. They are Deshazor Everett and Fish Smithson. Everett will be the harder of the two to beat. Everett was an undrafted free agent signing by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who ended up with the Redskins in August of 2015. Since that time, he has been a staple of the roster after spending a month on the practice squad.
Everett is a special teams ace who has shown the ability to be a capable third safety at times. While he struggled in coverage at times when asked to start last season, he has a lot of experience and that will do a lot to help him win the trust of the coaches. With two relatively young players in Nicholson and Apke, the Redskins coaches may want to have a veteran back there, in case there are some growing pains. That could end up working against Blanding.
Meanwhile, Smithson poses less of a threat to Blanding. That said, Smithson does have a year of experience in the Redskins system, and he had a highly productive collegiate career. It’s possible that if he shows improvement, the Redskins will opt to keep him, particularly if he can prove to be a solid cover option. Thus, Smithson shouldn’t be brushed off.
It’s still possible that Blanding’s versatility and tackling skills could get him on the roster. But with this type of stiff competition, it’s going to be a hard battle and it’s one in which he is at a disadvantage.
How Blanding fits with the Redskins
If Blanding wants to make the Redskins, he is going to have to find a role as a fourth safety/linebacker hybrid who can make an impact on special teams. The team was looking for a hybrid safety/linebacker player last season when they moved Cravens to the safety spot, but they never found it. If Blanding can do enough in coverage, he could assume that role is certain packages.
However, the biggest place that Blanding could make an impact as a rookie would be on special teams. He obviously has a lot of tackling talent and great instincts when coming downhill to square up his opponents. If Blanding can show enough value as a hard-hitting special teams ace, that might be enough to vault him over Deshazor Everett and some of the other depth players the Redskins carry for special teams purposes.
Also, Blanding has to show versatility. He’s not quite fast enough to be a full-time safety, so he will have to be able to play in the box and stop opposing running backs. He did that at the college level, and now it’s just a question of whether or not he can do it in the NFL.
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Blanding certainly will have a chance to secure a roster spot, but it may be more likely that he will start his career on the practice squad. Either way, he has a very good skill set. The only thing that is hampering his potential is his lack of speed. But if he can overcome that, he will be a solid role player at the pro level.