The Texans are hoping new safety Reed Blankenship can use his Super Bowl experience to help guide Houston to one.
Blankenship believes Houston's defense can go far after a stellar campaign during the 2025 season.
"Like you said, they're already a really talented group," Blankenship said Wednesday at his introductory press conference, via the team's transcripts. "I want to come in and contribute as much as I can. But there shouldn't be any fall off. That's my mindset. There should not be any fall off. If anything, like I said before, there should be a sense of calmness. There's going to be another communicator in the back end.
"I feel like the sky's the limit for this secondary, for sure. I know all these guys are bought in. Why wouldn't you want to be? They all want to win. We have a winning mindset. I can already feel that in the building. I'm super excited to get to work with these guys and really start to build relationships with them."
An undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee in 2022, Blankenship was behind the depth chart for veterans Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson and played in 10 games. The following season, Blankenship became a full-time starter and had a career-high 11 passes defended and three interceptions. Since then, he's been a reliable defender for the Eagles and contributed to Philadelphia's run to win Super Bowl LIX.
As for Houston, the Texans have seen a few defenders leave in free agency but have kept familiar pieces back. Houston re-signed Naquan Jones, Sheldon Rankins, E.J. Speed, M.J. Stewart and others. The Texans signed Blankenship to a three-year, $24.75 million deal to join one of the league's best duos at disrupting the quarterback in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
Blankenship acknowledged that Anderson and Hunter are going to make his job a little easier on the field with their abilities to wreak havoc.
"I'm excited," he said. "They got some fire rushers in that pair. It's going to make my life a lot easier, certainly. It's really exciting."
