How Eagles' 'Milk Check' DB leading Pro Bowl vote puts Slay, Bradberry future in question

PHILADELPHIA − Perhaps Darius Slay was foreshadowing over the summer raving about young players like safety Reed Blankenship and cornerbacks Josh Jobe and Eli Ricks.

"A lot of vets in this league don’t want young guys to take their spots," Slay said in August. "I’m looking forward to a young guy taking my spot because that’s what it’s all about. Giving off your knowledge to the game because one day I’m going to hang it up. I want these guys to be prepared to be in the position that I’m in."

What if that day is coming sooner rather than later?

It's not that Jobe and Ricks are ready to step in and replace Slay and James Bradberry, who have been selected to a combined six Pro Bowls and named All-Pros twice during their careers.

They're not.

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The San Francisco 49ers made that painfully clear in the Eagles' 42-19 loss last Sunday, and the Cowboys could very well do it again Sunday night in their NFC East showdown for first place.

The Eagles (10-2) lead the Cowboys (9-3) by one game, and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 374 yards and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had 191 yards receiving in the first meeting, a 28-23 Eagles win on Nov. 5.

But Slay and Bradberry haven't played at their Pro Bowl levels of past seasons. And they aren't getting any younger. Slay will turn 33 next month, and Bradberry is 30.

That brings us to Blankenship, who is playing at a Pro Bowl level, at least according to the early returns of the fan vote. He leads all NFL strong safeties. Perhaps the players and coaches vote will change that as they represent two-thirds of the vote.

Still, Blankenship's play has not gone unnoticed. He leads the Eagles in tackles with 77 and is tied for the team lead in interceptions. Blankenship has said all the right things when asked about leading the early voting.

"It would mean a lot, but I can’t look at that right now," he said. "I’m focusing on Dallas at the end of the day."

Still, it's quite an accomplishment so far for a player Slay lovingly referred to as "Milk Check" over the summer. He was debunking the term used by Bills quarterback Josh Allen to describe taking advantage of a white defensive back.

"We got a guy on our (team) who can’t be 'Milk-Checked,'" Slay said with a laugh in August. "This is a different ‘Milk Check’ over here. He’s good milk. He don’t spoil. He makes a lot of plays."

But in the grand scheme of things, Blankenship is the only one of the Eagles' five starting defensive backs under the age of 30. In addition to Slay and Bradberry, safety Kevin Byard and nickel corner Bradley Roby are both 31.

Let's get back to Ricks and Jobe.

They were both signed as undrafted rookie free agents − Ricks in 2023 and Jobe in 2022. And both have had to step in during the course of the season as both Slay and Bradberry have missed one game this season.

Ricks has also played nickel, a position he has never played before this season. That's because Avonte Maddox tore a pec muscle in Week 1, and then Roby missed three games with a pec injury shortly after he signed in October.

To say that it's been a baptism by fire is an understatement for Ricks. And it hasn't always gone well, as the 49ers showed last Sunday as Deebo Samuel exposed the Eagles over the middle, just as Lamb did in the first meeting.

"(Lamb) is good at yards after catch," Ricks said. "That's one thing him and Deebo do have in common. Good yards after passing. You know they're gonna try to get him the ball."I feel like, next season, I’ll be a totally different player coming into the season with all the experience that I’ve gotten. ... I wasn’t expecting to play this much. I was always going to be ready to play, but I thought I was going to be at corner the whole year."

Granted, the Eagles want to consider themselves as perennial Super Bowl contenders, so they're certainly not going to turn the secondary over to Jobe and Ricks, with a combined three starts between them.

Then again, the Eagles made Blankenship a full-time starter this season after he was an undrafted free agent in 2022. The Eagles lost both of last season's starters − Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps − to free agency.

But of the Eagles' veteran starters at defensive back, it's possible that the Eagles will keep only one of the other three among Slay, Bradberry and Byard, all of whom are signed for next season. Roby can become a free agent.

The Eagles can replace the others in two ways − by drafting a starter as they have three picks in the first two rounds, and/or by going after a younger and better free agent next spring.

The Eagles almost did that after last season. In fact, Slay announced on social media last March that the Eagles were releasing him. Then the Eagles changed course and signed him to a three-year deal the next day.

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Bradberry, meanwhile, was headed to free agency before the Eagles brought him back, too.

The Eagles will certainly have a plan for next season. But they have shown it can work with Blankenship, who went from undrafted to a possible Pro Bowl player in one year.

"Reed has done a nice job of filling in last year and stepping into a starting role this year," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "What you always notice about Reed is how physical of a player he is, how good he is coming up and making tackles and making timely plays on the ball."

The Pro Bowl will be determined Dec. 29 after players and coaches cast their votes. The Eagles should have several selected, but keep an eye on Blankenship. That could mean a similar path to starting for Ricks and/or Jobe, and that could come at the expense of Slay and/or Bradberry.

How Eagles can stop Dak Prescott, Cowboys offense

When Dak Prescott isn't, ahem, dumping the ball off to his favorite receivers, he can be seen promoting colon cancer screening in a "Let's Talk Sh*t" campaign, replete with an Eagles logo underneath a sample container.

Prescott is making a strong case for MVP this season, along with Hurts. So the outcome of this game can certainly go a long way towards determining the winner.

Prescott is completing 70.1% of his passes, tied for second in the NFL. He's also second in passer rating at 108.3, and first with 26 touchdown passes. Lamb, meanwhile, is second in the NFL with 1,182 yards receiving.

Prescott had a great game against the Eagles last time, with 374 yards passing while Lamb had 191 yards receiving. But the Eagles won in part because Prescott stepped out of bounds on a two-point conversion.

Hurts, meanwhile, just finds a way to win. The Eagles are 27-3 in his last 30 regular-season starts, and that's even after the 49ers fiasco. And Hurts has won in Kansas City against the Chiefs and brought the Eagles from 10 points back in the fourth quarter against Buffalo.

"I think that’s one thing there, you know you’re going to get everyone’s best when you play someone," Hurts said. "We’ve definitely been challenged and stressed out in a ton of different ways. But it’s about remaining resilient through it, and always responding the right way."

Perhaps the return of tight end Dallas Goedert and the addition of linebacker Shaq Leonard will make just enough of a difference.

Score: Eagles 33, Cowboys 31.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How Eagles DB leading Pro Bowl vote impacts future for Slay, Bradberry