#12

Reed Blankenship

Senior safety for Middle Tennessee. 2021: 1 interception, 8 pass breakups, 110 tackles.

S · Middle Tennessee · Sr. · #12

6′1″ · 200 lb · Athens, AL

CFB Index 93 · #4 of 509 safetiesMedium confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamMiddle Tennessee 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

S recruit

No. 1713 nationally · Signed with Middle Tennessee

Statement game17 tackles · 3 TFL · 1 sackat Old Dominion (FBS) · W 51-17

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 safety for Middle Tennessee. 2021: 1 interception, 8 pass breakups, 110 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Middle Tennessee in 2017.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Middle Tennessee, 413 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

201712 games

Signed with Middle Tennessee3-star out of West Limestone

20209 games

All-Conference USA

202112 games

All-Conference USAfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1713 national

CFB

College

Middle Tennessee

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

4 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 1ST TEAM

All-Conference USA 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Rick Stockstill

Middle Tennessee

Played his entire career under Rick Stockstill.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Rick Stockstill — 29-32 over that span.

2017Middle Tennessee7-6HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2018Middle Tennessee8-6HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2019Middle Tennessee4-8HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2020Middle Tennessee3-6HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2021Middle Tennessee7-6HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

93All-America level #4 of 509?

Medium confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (100th percentile). Strength: tackles (99th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Solo tackles#8 / 2743 · 100th pct

Tackles#29 / 2743 · 99th pct

110

Passes defended#67 / 2743 · 97th pct

Tackles for loss#141 / 2743 · 94th pct

10.0

Sacks#829 / 2743 · 61st pct

1.0

QB hurries#827 / 2743 · 59th pct

Forced fumbles#59 / 673 · 46th pct

Interceptions#320 / 824 · 31st pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	7.0	0.8	0.2	0.8
Road7g	10.1	0.9	0.0	0.6

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	9.2	0.7	0.0	0.5
Weeks 8+6g	8.5	1.0	0.2	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Derek Mason

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #4 of 509 FBS safeties by CFB Index Score.2021 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

93 · #4 of 509 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #4 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Middle Tennessee	110	75	10.0	1.0	8	1	--
2020	Middle Tennessee	76	37	1.0	0.0	1	--	1
2019	Middle Tennessee	58	40	0.5	0.0	3	2	--
2018	Middle Tennessee	101	63	8.0	1.0	7	4	--
2017	Middle Tennessee	68	44	7.0	1.0	--	2	--
Career		413	259	26.5	3.0	19	9	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2021

W 34–28

vs Marshall

1 PD · 5 SOLO · 7 TOT

Edged out Marshall at home in a shootout.

With K. Ulbrich — 43 AVG · 4 IN 20 · 74 LONG · J. Lane — 1 rec · 34 yds · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 50-15vs Monmouth	5	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 14-35@ Virginia Tech	8	6	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 13-27@ UTSA	13	7	1.0	0.0	—	1	Season-high 13 tackles
Wk 4	L 39-42@ Charlotte	13	6	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 5	W 34-28vs Marshall	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	L 13-41@ Liberty	9	8	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 44-13@ UConn	9	9	2.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 9	W 35-10vs Southern Miss	8	7	2.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 10	L 21-48@ Western Kentucky	9	7	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 50-10vs Florida International	9	5	1.0	1.0	1	1
Wk 12	L 17-24vs Old Dominion	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 27-17@ Florida Atlantic	10	7	1.0	0.0	—	0
Total		106	71	10.0	1.0	1	8

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology