What If The Scheme Change Doesn't Work? Do the Eagles Need A Contingency at QB

After a disappointing 2025 season punctuated by the further regression of the Eagles’ passing offense, the organization has embarked on its most significant schematic overhaul in years.

New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is installing a system heavily influenced by the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay coaching trees. The scheme is expected to emphasize outside zone runs, extensive pre-snap motion, and quick, timing-based passing—often from under center.

That represents a sharp contrast from the plus-one impact that has defined the Nick Sirianni/Jalen Hurts era, and delivered the most successful run of modern Eagles football.

The move is designed to push Hurts into becoming more of a pure pocket passer in his seventh NFL season, after a similar experiment was abandoned early in the 2024 season.

Even if the path feels somewhat counterintuitive—like throwing someone into the deep end of the pool while simultaneously asking them to pound a square peg into a round hole—the more prudent exercise is to prepare for what comes next.

The Eagles will need to find a pro-style quarterback and develop him just as college programs shift more and more to the Hurts style of play.

It doesn’t have to happen immediately, given the organization’s commitment to this experiment, but by 2027, something may need to be in place.

With that in mind, Eagles On SI asked pro scout Ric Serritella—founder of the NFL Draft Bible and former CFL personnel man with the Edmonton Elks—who would be the best fit for a Shanahan-style system in the 2026 NFL Draft.

“I think Garrett Nussmeier would be the guy,” Serritella said. “I don’t know if he makes it to Day 3 or not, but when you talk about a guy who can make all the throws, I thought he worked the short to intermediate parts of the field very well this year.”

The Eagles are very familiar with Nussmeier, whose father Doug served as the team’s quarterbacks coach and tutored Jalen Hurts in 2024. Several members of Philadelphia’s scouting department became smitten with the younger Nussmeier, who was widely viewed as a first-round prospect before an injury-plagued 2025 season.

“Not as much deep ball downfield stuff as two years ago, and I think a lot of that played into the injuries,” Serritella added. “But when you’re talking about a very cerebral quarterback who has played in that style of system, has multiple years of starting experience, is the son of an NFL offensive coordinator (Doug Nussmeier is currently the Saints OC), and played through injuries—I mean, he suffered a patella and a torso injury in August and played the entire season with that.

“So, I do think you have to factor that into the equation, and that would be the guy I think has the upside to start in the NFL.”

In a QB-deficient league, many draft analysts still project Nussmeier as the QB3 behind presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) and Alabama’s Ty Simpson.

If that sentiment holds, the Eagles would likely need a Day 2 pick to land Nussmeier and bring him into Parks Frazier’s quarterback room.

A Sleeper?

Serritella also offered a sleeper option who could be a Day 3 target or even a priority undrafted free agent.

“I’ll throw out one really deep late sleeper that I’m high on: Jacob Clark from Missouri State,” Serritella said. “I had a chance to see him down at the American Bowl, and this guy is a traditional pocket passer with not much mobility. Prototypical size at 6-foot-4, almost 6-5, around 220 pounds.

“If you watch the American Bowl, he came in and led the team on a long field march for the game-winning touchdown. This guy really flashed some starter-caliber traits—the velocity, the decision-making. Obviously, he’s at a smaller school, which is where you get the developmental tag. You maybe just stash him on the practice squad for a year or two and see if he develops.”

Of course, before turning entirely to the draft, the Eagles may already have a candidate who fits the mold of a pro-style pocket passer right on their roster: Tanner McKee.

The 6-foot-6 Stanford product, drafted in the sixth round in 2023, has shown flashes of the size, arm talent, and timing-based accuracy that could align well with Shanahan/McVay-style systems.

Limited opportunities in 2025 (24-of-43 for 274 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) came in mop-up or spot duty, but his clean pocket presence and ability to process from under center could make him a more natural fit than Hurts in this new scheme.

With the Eagles reportedly receiving trade interest in McKee ahead of the 2026 draft, the organization faces a clear fork in the road. If they believe the schematic change is the long-term answer, keeping and developing McKee as a potential bridge or even starter could prove far more cost-effective than reaching in the draft or chasing another veteran.

McKee would also represent the least disruptive path to testing whether this offense can truly thrive with a traditional drop-back quarterback. However, he could generate somewhat significant money as a free agent in 2027, only complicating things further.