Do you think these would work without blending the oats, just leaving the oats whole?

If you want them to be similar to "normal" cookies you need the oats broken down to provide a flour component. The remaining ingredients will coat whole oats (like granola) rather than combining uniformly/being absorbed/creamed together (like cookies). I think you can make them and get something to eat out of it, but they will be quite different than the recipe intended.