The Philadelphia Eagles may have slightly shown their hand with regards to the quarterback position on Saturday, as reports have surfaced that backup QB, Tanner McKee, will not play in the second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, per The Philadelphia Enquirer’s Jeff McLane.
With Dorian Thompson-Robinson and sixth round rookie, Kyle McCord taking the entirety of the snaps in Saturday’s game, it seems that the Eagles have seen more than enough of the 2023 sixth rounder to know that he will in fact be Jalen Hurts‘ backup ahead of the start of the regular season.
Tanner McKee Showed Out In The First Week Of Preseason
With Jalen Hurts not playing a single snap last weekend, QB2, Tanner McKee took the bulk of the snaps. And he carved up the Cincinnati Bengals‘ defense to the tune of 252 yards and 2 touchdowns, going 20/25 for an 80% completion percentage in the process.
This landed McKee with the second highest QB rating for any quarterback in this preseason, behind only the Denver Broncos‘ Jarrett Stidham, with an impressive 135.3. And for players who attempted at least 20 passes, McKee takes the crown – so far.
The most impressive part for both the fans and the Eagle brass will surely be how McKee lead the offense down the field and carved up the first team Bengals defense on a 75 yard drive that resulted in a 1 yard rushing touchdown from the former Stanford man.
Who Will Win The Eagles’ Final Quarterback Roster Spot?
Even before McKee was elected to not be played on Saturday, it looked fairly clear that he was the immediate backup at the position behind Hurts. After this, it is little short of a guarantee.
Philadelphia could opt to take just two quarterbacks on the roster, but these days taking three has become the more common approach, now that teams can have an emergency game-day quarterback suit up in case the other two go down.
With just DTR and Kyle McCord filling out the signal caller spots on the extended 90 man training camp roster, it figures to be a fairly straightforward head-to-head for the QB3 role.
Despite McCord being the team’s own draft pick – and indeed a rookie – Dorian Thompson Robinson has gotten the start on Saturday, per Zach Berman.
Once again: This is the first time that Nick Sirianni felt one preseason game was enough for the backup QB. He’s played his No.
This is not necessarily an indicator of Sirianni’s leanings – DTR is ahead on the depth chart and is the more senior player at the position. But it is certainly an interesting decision, particularly given Robinson’s struggles in the league – especially in the passing game – since coming out of college in 2023.
Eagles Make Preseason Decision On Backup QB – Report