Eagles QB Tanner McKee Reveals ‘Growth' in 3 Areas
The Philadelphia Eagles took Stanford Cardinal quarterback Tanner McKee in the sixth round of the NFL Draft not because they needed a challenger to Jalen Hurts’ starting job, but because it’s wise to always have a guy developing at the most important position on the field.
Develop is exactly what McKee has been doing while impressing in his first preseason with the Eagles. He was asked if he’s seen his own growth during the past few weeks.
“Just growing as a person, as a leader, and as a football player for sure being around a great group of guys,” McKee said. “Our quarterback room has helped me become a better NFL quarterback. Having great examples…learning from them to see what they do. To see what has worked for them in the past because they have a lot more experience than I have.”
McKee has taken those lessons, and his opportunities, and turned them all into a rather impressive rookie preseason.
The rookie quarterback posted north of 140 yards passing in each of Philadelphia's three preseason games with his best quarterback rating reaching 100.9 in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns.
In that game, McKee threw for 147 yards and one touchdown while completing 10 of 18 pass attempts.
Unfortunately, he was also sacked three times and had a sub-60 percent completion percentage.
All part of being a late-round draft pick with plenty of potential to spare.
If the Eagles keep him on the active roster, he’ll continue to grow under the tutelage of more veteran quarterbacks like Hurts and expected backup Marcus Mariota - although there seems to be some questions about that as well.
But if Philadelphia attempts to stash him on the practice squad there’s no guarantee he won’t get poached by another NFL team in need of young talent to develop.
And so goes the difficult dance of roster construction for teams like the Eagles and across the NFL over the next 24 hours or so.
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