Can Tanner McKee beat Kenny Pickett to become the Eagles' second quarterback? – NBC Sports Philadelphia

Tanner McKee was asked Thursday night if he felt he had earned the spot as the Eagles' second quarterback.

“It’s not my decision,” he said.

Then he paused, smiled and said, “I wish it were so.”

This also applies to many Eagles fans.

A combination of McKee's terrific performance against the Patriots and a terrible night from Kenny Pickett in the Eagles' 14-13 win at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, turned an already interesting contest into a full-blown quarterback controversy.

Pickett, a 26-year-old 1^stThe first-round pick with 24 NFL starts under his belt was inferior and ineffective, repeatedly holding onto the ball for too long and running aimlessly around the pocket as the pressure mounted.

McKee, a 24-year-old 6^th-round pick, who has never played a regular season snap, was confident and sharp, fired quickly and decisively, avoided pressure and even led the Eagles to a game-winning 4^th-Quarter touchdown drive.

McKee has outperformed Pickett in every way, and it wasn't even close. Maybe Pickett deserves the No. 2 pick, but we haven't seen that yet.

“Kenny is No. 2 and Tanner is our No. 3, and I’m really happy to have them both on the roster,” Nick Sirianni said after the game.

“They're both doing a good job. I thought Tanner made some really nice shots today, with a lot of foresight. I'll have to watch the video of what happened, but they've both been practicing well up until today. I thought they both played solid today.”

It's understandable that Sirianni wants to protect Pickett, who the Eagles acquired from the Steelers in March, but McKee looked fantastic in two separate 2's.^and-half appearances with backup receivers. He managed a game-winning 70-yard run that was capped off with a touchdown run by Kendall Milton and a crucial two-point conversion pass to Ainias Smith with 4 ½ minutes left.

McKee has sporadically 2^andteam representative at practice, but generally that was to include him on days when the third offensive line didn't get much time.

When asked about the competition between him and McKee, Pickett said, “They keep mixing up the groups and letting guys play in different groups. I'm just taking it day by day, keep playing, keep making good shots, keep playing well and making progress on offense.”

McKee was impressive last summer. This summer he has taken his game to a new level. With his 6'6″ frame, 230 lbs. weight, strong arm and quick reaction, he truly looks like an NFL quarterback.

“I feel like I see the defense a lot more mentally (than last year),” McKee said. “I think one of the biggest things about going from college to the NFL is post-snap movement. I feel like they're always going to lie to your eyes before the snap, and so I feel like I'm very good at recognizing post-snap movement and adjusting to it. I think that was a big growth point for me last year and I'm going to continue to work on that.”

It was a bit of a surprise when the Eagles signed Pickett, who the Steelers drafted just two years after he was named 20th overall.^th Selection in the 2022 draft.

Pickett is the only quarterback in NFL history to win at least 14 games in his first two seasons and then move on to a new team in his third season.

“I think they communicate great and they told me they're bringing in another quarterback and we're going to compete,” McKee said. “Kenny is a great teammate and we're going to continue to compete all year long.”

The biggest difference between the two quarterbacks on Thursday night was how they handled pressure. Pickett took four sacks for 24 yards on 17 dropbacks and even took a sack on a 4^th-and-8, a cardinal sin for a quarterback. He also had two running attempts that resulted in pointless three-yard gains.

McKee wasn't sacked and didn't get very close. By the time the pressure mounted, he had already handed the football off.

Pickett has faced the Patriots' better pass rushers, so that's something to consider, but his inability to handle the pressure is concerning.

“The things that stalled some of the drives (when Pickett was playing) were some of the pressure points we faced,” Sirianni said. “We didn't do a good job in that area either, for a variety of reasons that we'll obviously look at.”

Pickett played the first half and completed 11 of 13 passes, but only totaled 67 yards and 43 net yards. That's 3.3 net yards per pass play.

McKee completed 15 of 19 passes for 140 yards and did not have a single sack. That's 7.4 net yards per pass play.

Pickett's only successful pass of 11 yards was a screen pass that Will Shipley converted into a 19-yard gain. McKee was able to complete passes of 12, 13, 16, 23 and 28 yards.

“We rotated a lot of people tonight so we could play with a lot of different people and in different groups,” Pickett said.

“I don't think we were as clean as we would have liked to be. I think we were better and more fluid … in the first game, so that's something we need to iron out this week for the third game.”