The 'quarterback factory' is back folks! This Tanner McKee kid can ball! Yep! That's all we have on that. There's your take. The rest of the NFL is learning what the Philadelphia Eagles organization and their coaches and fans have known for a long time.
This isn't a fluke. Tanner McKee is a legitimate NFL quarterback.
Sometimes, knowing what you're supposed to gauge from an NFL preseason game is hard. Sure, we can only measure what's offered. Teams run vanilla schemes and ask their teams to perform tasks to evaluate them.
We can only measure them by how they respond. So, that's all we had to go on with McKee, that and what he did during practice sessions. Still, something always seemed special about this former sixth-round 2023 NFL Draft selection.
Each time Tanner stepped on the playing surface, he just looked like he knew what he was doing even though he was often sparring with guys who wouldn't make their respective teams. We begged for an opportunity to see him with the starters. We were ignored, but we had seen enough to form an opinion. He seemed like he had more talent than Kenny Pickett and Marcus Mariota.
NFL teams, if they're wise, had better call the Eagles to inquire about Tanner McKee's asking price.
Here we sit after seeing McKee under center in games that count toward the Eagles' win-loss total. He's thrown for 323 yards this season after relieving Kenny Pickett in Week 17 and making his first start in Week 18. The latter game resulted in a 20-13 Eagles win over the New York Giants.
Tanner has completed 30 of 45 pass attempts this season. He has notched a 4-0 TD-to-interception ratio. He is the only NFL player to throw two TDs despite attempting fewer than five passes.
Two things must happen. He must be elevated above Kenny Pickett as the Eagles' backup quarterback, and any team needing help at the position should consider calling Philly to inquire about his services.
Let's say the Birds did consider dangling him this offseason as trade bait. Here are a handful of teams who had better be interested in making an offer.
Indianapolis Colts
Well, it appears that Colts GM Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen will live to fight after another Black Monday. They have to be thinking, however, that success may not come by hitching their wagons to Anthony Richardson.
The former first-rounder is best remembered outside of Indy for suffering a season-ending injury as a rookie and tapping out of a game during the most recent campaign. Come on. You feel like they wouldn't benefit from adding Tanner McKee.
Jim Irsay loves raiding the Eagles' cupboard (Carson Wentz, Frank Reich, Shane Steichen). Who's to say his team won't come calling again.
New Orleans Saints
The Derek Carr experiment in the Big Easy isn't going to work. There's no need to waste any more time because it's obvious. The Saints' backup is Spencer Rattler, and from what we have seen, he isn't going to win them very many games either if given a long stay.
Philly has fleeced the Saints in trades time and time again. How about doing so once more for old time's sake?
Tennessee Titans
Will Levis can't play. We can say that, right? Yes, he has arm talent, but he doesn't win any games. He also makes too many mistakes that he doesn't learn from. Don't believe us? Ask your self a question.
Can you name one thing Levis has done that has impressed you? We just need ONE. Don't worry... We'll wait...
Brian Callahan was hires for his offensive acumen, and something tells us he'd like to get his hands on an efficient and smart Stanford guy.
What a coincidence! We know a smart and efficient QB who cut his teeth collegiately with the Cardinal.
Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson is owed $92 million over the next two NFL seasons. Think about that for a second. As is often the case, the Browns have a ton of problems and not enough answers.
We don't know how to fix them, nor would we suggest that we're better at doing so than Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski. We do know Cleveland needs a quarterback though, and they need one that's cheap.
Howie Roseman and Andre Berry know each other well as the latter was Philly's vice president of football operations in 2019. Maybe it's time those two share a phone call and meet up somewhere for lunch.
New York Jets
The Jets can't get it right at the quarterback position, and maybe that's more on them than the guys they keep acquiring and dismissing. Has anyone noticed how much better Sam Darnold looks since his exit?
At some point, we can't keep blaming Darnold, Zach Wilson, and Aaron Rodgers. Well... Maybe we can blame Wilson and Rodgers, but the fact is this. The Jets will enter the offseason again needing a quarterback.
We'd rather not see them ruin Tanner McKee, but something tells us that Tanner is competitive enough to give it a shot if offered the opportunity. Might the Jets inquire? They have to explore every option at this point, don't they?