Eagles rookie storylines for the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the ultimate test for an entire football team. The Eagles’ roster and coaching staff will stretch themselves to unbelievable lengths to maximize their performance against the Chiefs on Sunday. This includes Philly’s rookie class. Though the first-year players have not made as much impact during the year as the Chiefs’ young guys, some will be relied on in key ways to help the Eagles win.

Reed Blankenship on the biggest stage of his life

The Eagles have gotten some pretty stellar play out of their rookie safety. In the regular season and the playoffs, Reed Blankenship has brought dependability, physicality and playmaking to the Eagles secondary. Now they will need him to line up against the MVP and bring all those same qualities.

With Avonte Maddox still working through a toe injury, it is possible we see three-safety sets with C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the slot and Blankenship holding it down with Marcus Epps on the back end. Blankenship will need to play the best game of his life to limit the Chiefs dominant passing game and come up against their playmakers in the run game.

Jordan Davis and setting the tone up front

Jordan Davis has been a role player in his rookie year. The nose tackle has played very good football, but hasn’t had the opportunity to truly take over games yet. His role likely won’t change in the Super Bowl, but what he does with limited snaps will matter. The Chiefs have one of the better offensive lines in the league, especially on the interior. Winning early and often in the trenches will be key in keeping the Chiefs offense at bay and giving the Eagles an opportunity to get out to an Early lead.

Getting the most out of special teams

The Eagles have three rookies that have played a lot of special teams of late. Obviously Britain Covey is the Eagles punt returner. Getting a good return out of him would be great but it would just be fine if he didn’t make any mistakes. More than Covey, the Eagles need to be on top of kick coverage. A great kick return was the difference for the Chiefs in the AFC championship game, so Nakobe Dean and Josh Jobe will need to hold it down when going after returners.