NFL’s most underappreciated players: Cowboys’ Brandin Cooks, Eagles’ Reed Blankenship among NFC picks set to join Buccaneers
As we head into the summer, it’s a time for optimism across the NFL landscape — not just in terms of team outlooks, but also more granularly at the individual level. That said, player puffery is NOT an evenly distributed currency. Certain guys just don’t get the love they deserve.
Dortch’s season stat line (41 targets, 24 catches, 280 receiving yards, two TDs) looks kind of lame, but that’s because through mid-November, he was limited to punt- and kick-return duties. Most of his 2023 production came after Kyler Murray returned from injury, with Dortch becoming the second most-targeted player on the team from Week 11 to Week 18, when he also racked up the second-most receiving first downs (14). The spotlight might linger on superstar rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., but it wouldn’t be surprising if Murray continued to look in the direction of Dortch (who, by the way, will count for just $985,000 against the cap after signing a one-year exclusive rights tender in April). After a full season of being called a “glue guy” on TV, Dortch might graduate from this list. For now, let’s join Marquise Brown in showing this former practice squadder some love.
Cooks has definitely been appreciated by NFL teams, who have paid him plenty and traded for him several times since he was drafted in 2014. But he’s never made the Pro Bowl or first-team All-Pro, and in four of his six 1,000-yard seasons, his team had a losing record, meaning he’s spent a good portion of his career on the fringes of the competitive landscape. So even before 2023, he probably could have qualified for a “lifetime underappreciation award.” Now — as even he would admit — he is no longer the top pass-catching option on the field. That said, he’s kept his per-catch mark above 12 yards over the past two seasons, and he says he’s “ready to rock” after picking things up in the second half last season. The volume might not be there, but he’s a consummate pro who can still play an important role for Dallas.
How’s this for being underappreciated? You sign a contract extension, and a local media outlet responds with a write-up about how you could still lose your job as a starter this season. That’s not an outlandish proposition. Though Blankenship led the Eagles in tackles (108), finished third on the team in passes defensed (11) and was the fifth-best defensive-graded player in Philly, per PFF, he was also credited with allowing six touchdowns as the nearest defender last season, tied for ninth-most in the NFL, according to NGS. I’m not here to wallow in Blankenship’s shortcomings, however. What I really want is to call out two facts: 1) Blankenship made bank in performance-based pay last season, and 2) He logged an astounding 116 snaps in Week 12 against the Bills, which is the most in a game since 2012. Being able to handle an extraordinary workload on one late-November day obviously isn’t everything, but it is something. Whatever direction Blankenship’s career takes going forward, his promising 2023 makes me comfortable listing him here at this moment.
