Over the next few weeks leading up to training camp, we’ll be counting down the top 25 most important Eagles for the 2025 season.
25. Andrew Mukuba
24. Jahan Dotson
23. Tanner McKee
The backup quarterback doesn’t matter until it really matters.
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SIGN UP HERE So go ahead and knock on wood for this one. The hope is obviously that Jalen Hurts stays healthy for the entire regular season and playoffs and the only time you see Tanner McKee in 2025 is when he comes into the end of lopsided games. But Hurts has dealt with some late-season injuries before — heck, he even had a concussion late in 2024 — and we know how much the Eagles value that backup spot.
This offseason, the Eagles traded veteran Kenny Pickett to the Browns, which allowed the 25-year-old McKee to slide up the depth chart into the No. 2 spot behind Hurts.
The Eagles wouldn’t have traded Pickett if they didn’t really trust McKee. But after watching McKee play last season, it made a lot of sense to go into 2025 with him as the backup.
While McKee didn’t play a ton in 2024, he did get into the final two games of the regular season and started the regular season finale against the Giants. In those two games, McKee completed 30 of 45 passes (66.7%) for 323 yards with 4 touchdowns on 0 interceptions.
NFL
McKee’s passer rating of 117.2 was the third-highest in the NFL last season, among quarterback who attempted at least 45 passes, behind just Malik Willis and Lamar Jackson.
In his first career start, in Week 18 against the Giants, McKee completed 27 of 41 passes for 269 yards with 2 touchdowns on 0 interceptions.
“I thought he was in complete control of the game today,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after that game. “Making good decisions. I felt like he got to his check down a couple times, that was really impressive, to Will Shipley a couple times. Really impressive. Strung together a couple good quarters last game and then a full good game today. Every time he gets an opportunity in practice, he does a really good job. We're excited about Tanner and the player he is.
“I love our quarterback room, obviously starting with Jalen [Hurts] and all the great things Jalen has done this year to help us get to where we are right now. Kenny [Pickett] has had really good minutes and played a good game last week. Played a good game against Washington. Then Tanner doing what he did today and at the end of the Dallas week last week. Love that room.”
In fact, McKee was so good that it was a legitimate question asked to Sirianni about who his backup entering the playoffs would be. The Eagles didn’t shake things up during the playoff run but they saw enough to trade Pickett this offseason.
The Eagles drafted McKee in the sixth round out of Stanford in 2023. He’s a big pocket passer at 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds and just looks the part. Even in his first training camp, McKee began to turn some heads.
This spring, McKee was again impressive, now working exclusively with the Eagles’ second-team offense. Competing behind him are Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who was acquired in the Pickett trade, and new sixth-round pick Kyle McCord. McKee is under contract through the 2026 season so he should be the backup for at least the next two years.