Today, we are going to do the fantasy football rookie roundup on the Philadelphia Eagles. You may be wondering why on God’s Green Earth would I want to do a breakdown on the fantasy relevance of the Eagles and you would be right to ask that question. The only fantasy-relevant player they drafted is Tanner McKee and if he does become fantasy-relevant something has gone horribly, horribly wrong for the Eagles. There are two reasons I am writing about the Eagles. One, I am breaking down every fantasy rookie that was drafted. No player is too big or too small. Second, I got out of work really late today and needed to bang something out. That being said, I’ve scouted every rookie that was drafted in 2023 and if you have ever found yourself wanting a breakdown of Tanner McKee, you will not find a more insightful or entertaining evaluation anywhere else.
FULL PHILADELPHIA DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 9 | Jalen Carter | DT | Georgia |
| 1 | 30 | Nolan Smith | EDGE | Georgia |
| 3 | 2 | Tyler Steen | OT | Alabama |
| 3 | 3 | Sydney Brown | DB | Illinois |
| 4 | 3 | Kelee Ringo | CB | Georgia |
| 6 | 11 | Tanner McKee | QB | Stanford |
| 7 | 32 | Moro Ojomo | DT | Texas |
Round 6, Pick 188 Overall: Tanner McKee, Quarterback, Stanford (6’6” 231 lbs)
Depth Chart:
QB1: Jalen Hurts
QB2: Marcus Mariota
QB3: Ian Book
QB4: Tyrion Davis-Price
TALENT
Tanner McKee is a big-bodied boy with very limited mobility and arm strength. When I was watching McKee’s film, the thing that stood out to me is just how bad his arm is. I was amazed Tanner posted an 8.80 RAS score. I strongly suspect the reason he did not run the 40 was that he knew it would torpedo that score.
Nothing about McKee’s tape screamed superior athlete. First of all, it took forever for the ball to move down the field when he was passing. I honestly spent most of my time watching McKee wondering why cornerbacks weren’t just sitting back in coverage and jumping routes. Quite a few times they did. On top of a weak arm, his ball placement was very erratic. If you lack arm strength ball placement is a must, but McKee rarely put his receivers in a position to succeed.
I think it is important to note that I am looking at McKee’s arm based on playing NFL competition. McKee made good decisions. He was decent in the short passing game. Inside the hashes, on intermediate plays, he also showed solid decision-making. But even here, I found myself holding my breath waiting for an interception. Once he had to go outside of the hashes or put the ball deep, McKee’s weaknesses are glaring. He just doesn’t have the arm strength or accuracy to challenge defenses at the NFL level. I suspect the Eagles drafted him more because of his brain than his physical traits, with the hope that NFL coaching and a training regiment will make him a solid NFL backup down the road.
2023 OPPORTUNITY
The Philadelphia Eagles have 2022 MVP Jalen Hurts at quarterback. They have Marcus Mariota as the primary backup. I will rank the opportunity for Tanner McKee to have fantasy production in 2023 at 2%. 1% of that is dedicated to cumulative garbage time where he puts up 250 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. The other 1% is on the off-chance that there is a targeted extraterrestrial invasion where a hostile alien force targets all of the good and average quarterbacks in the NFL for examination on their home planet and Tanner McKee is the last man standing in the Eagles’ locker room.
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
I mentioned it at the top. We review every rookie to see what their fantasy football relevance might be. The cold, hard truth is that half of the rookies drafted will not be fantasy relevant in 2023. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth learning about some of them because 2024 and 2025 are where a lot of these guys will shine. Unfortunately, outside of the previously stated alien abduction scenario, I don’t think Tanner McKee is one of those guys.
TALENT
2023 OPPORTUNITY
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
