If you follow the Philadelphia Eagles casually, you may not know this, but Tanner McKee's buzz has built for a while. He's a former sixth-round selection, the 188th player that was taken during the 2023 NFL Draft.
He's never played in or started a professional football game. He was a healthy scratch during every regular season game Philly played this season, but we all love him. To understand this, you must be a die-hard Birds fan or someone who follows the team closely.
Most of what we know about Tanner was learned while watching him play during preseason games and looking back over his film when he cut his teeth collegiately at Stanford with the Cardinal.
Believe it or not, some Birds fans believed it was Tanner, not Kenny Pickett, who should be the Eagles' backup QB.
Versus the Dallas Cowboys we enjoyed an extended look at both. They played well. McKee was very impressive.
Tanner McKee walked into Week 17's game vs. the Cowboys as insurance. He walked out with a near-perfect QB rating.
Sure, he only threw four passes. We realize that. The sample size was small. We realize that too. Two of his three completions resulted in TDs. What? Is he supposed to apologize? 'QB3' filled in once Kenny Pickett was injured and did so admirably en route to a 156.2 QB rating.
A perfect QB rating is 158.3.
Maybe had he thrown more passes, we would have seen more completions, but he didn't. Again, is he supposed to apologize for Philly's big lead and the luxury of being able to hand the ball off?
Either way you slice it, Tanner did what he was asked, and the offense continued to hum with him at the helm, and ladies and gentlemen, that's what an NFL backup is supposed to do!
Tanner McKee's worst throw in Week 17
Well, he only threw four passes and one incompletion. Two of his completions resulted in TDs. What are we to do here? We aren't going to spend a ton of time breaking down his lone incompletion?
Okay, we'll cooperate. Before he connected with A.J. Brown for the first TD pass of his career, he squeezed one in that led A.J. too far toward the sideline. 11 couldn't get both feet inbounds, but that was one hell of a one-handed catch by Batman, wasn't it?
Tanner McKee's best throw in Week 17
The back-shoulder TD throw to A.J. Brown was as good as it gets. Then, after some miscommunication and overzealous celebration, Brown got the ball back that represents the first TD pass of Tanner's career.
McKee may not be the athletic threat that Jalen Hurts and Kenny Pickett are, but no one will ever question his arm talent. Check out this dime to 11.
GO BACK TO AJ BROWN.
— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024
Great throw by Tanner McKee.
📺: #DALvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/ZeW6Syi6nF
This is Jalen Hurts' team. There is no doubt about it, but teams needing help at quarterback would be wise to at least inquire about McKee during the offseason.
Final Grades
McKee wasn't asked to do much, but he did well with what he was asked to do. That's really all that matters when evaluating his performance, and now he's part of a historical conversation (or, he's the answer to a really cool trivia question). No other professional football player in the NFL Draft era has thrown multiple TDs despite throwing fewer than five pass attempts.
There's something he can tell the grandchildren. For now, he can tell everyone how he aced the first report card we gave him.
Accuracy: A+
Vision: A+
Pocket Presence: A
Intangibles: B
Decision-making: A
Leadership: A+
Overall grade: A