Who is Tanner McKee? Eagles QB gets biggest opportunity yet with Jalen Hurts sidelined

The task of breaking a three-game losing streak and keeping the Philadelphia Eagles afloat in the NFC East falls not on Jalen Hurts in Week 6 but rather on Tanner McKee, a fourth-year backup primed for the biggest opportunity of his NFL career. Hurts is out for the matchup against the Carolina Panthers due to a superficial blood clot, which developed after the Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams and moved following last week's trip to London, resulting in his unavailability for Sunday.

While the Eagles do have a third option in rookie Cole Payton, the expectation is that McKee will trot out with the offense when they return to Lincoln Financial Field. He served as Hurts' primary backup last year and was the third-stringer in 2024 and made a combined six appearances with two starts.

McKee is not entirely unknown in the NFL, considering his pair of previous starts, but this is by far the most prominent role of his career. With so much pressure facing the Eagles in their quest to rebound from a rocky start to the season, McKee will have more eyes on him this weekend than ever before.

So who is McKee, really? Here is everything to know about his football career, from his rise as a highly touted high school recruit to his emergence as Philadelphia's Week 6 starter.

Blue-chip recruit

McKee landed on the national radar during his junior year at Corona (Calif.) High School. Centennial. It was the most productive season of his prep career and earned him recognition as a Top247 recruit, and he later climbed as high as No. 38 overall in the 247Sports rankings for the Class of 2018. McKee closed the recruiting cycle as the top four-star quarterback with only three five-star prospects ahead of him: Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and JT Daniels.

As a three-sport athlete who also played volleyball and basketball at Centennial, McKee's future was always in football, and he elevated his stock with strong showings on the all-star circuit. He won the MVP award at the 2018 Polynesian Bowl, earned a spot in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and reached the finals at both The Opening and Elite 11.

McKee already held scholarship offers from myriad Power Five schools when Stanford called. Programs across the country sought his talents. Even though Stanford was his ultimate choice and much closer to home than the other programs he was interested in, it was not an open-and-shut case that he would end up with the Cardinal. Stanford was the last school to extend him an offer and the penultimate school to welcome him for an official visit. By the time he took his official visit in January 2018, he had already been on campus for regular-season games at Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama and Washington.

Each of those other schools pushed hard to land him, but come National Signing Day in February 2018, it was Stanford that earned McKee's commitment. The only hiccup for the Cardinal was that its prized signee would not arrive for another two years.

The long road to Stanford's lineup

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, McKee embarked on a two-year mission in Brazil. The COVID-19 pandemic cut his mission short by about five weeks, and upon his return to the United States, uncertainty about the 2020 college football season left him without a firm answer as to when he would join the Cardinal and eventually suit up as a freshman quarterback. His roster spot was waiting for him, though, and he was physically ready to join the team thanks to a workout regimen he and a fellow missionary adhered to in Brazil.

"Because we had that weight room in my last area, I think I gained back 10 pounds," McKee said to Deseret News after returning from his mission. "That was super nice. We worked out every morning and I was able to get a little bit back in shape. He threw the rugby ball and I threw the football. Now, when I throw, my arm doesn't really get sore. It's nice to come back home and work out at full speed."

The Pac-12 delayed the start of its season due to the pandemic and was the last of the power conferences to begin play. Stanford held just six games that year, with one against Washington State canceled due to virus protocols. McKee was supposed to be the No. 3 quarterback on Stanford's roster but was elevated to the backup job in the opener when a false positive COVID-19 test kept Davis Mills out of action. That game against No. 12 Oregon got out of hand, and McKee made his lone appearance of the season late in a 35-14 loss.

Mills departed for the NFL at the end of that campaign, which sparked a competition between McKee and incumbent backup Jack West for the starting job in 2021. West won the job out of fall camp but lost it when he threw two interceptions in a 24-7 season-opening loss to Kansas State. McKee took over and never looked back.

Emergence as NFL prospect

The first start of McKee's college career was an indication of the highlights to come. He orchestrated a 42-28 upset win on the road at No. 14 USC and kept the momentum rolling with two more wins in the next three games, including one over the same Oregon team that defeated the Cardinal the year prior. The Ducks were the No. 3 team in the nation at the time and stood on the wrong end of a breakout performance for McKee in which he racked up 230 yards and three touchdowns in an overtime thriller.

That Oct. 2 victory was the last of Stanford's season, though, as everything went off the rails. McKee missed two games due to injury during a seven-game losing streak to close the year.

While the team's overall struggles continued into a three-win 2022 season, McKee did his part as one of the few bright spots on the roster. He started all 12 games and posted a 62% completion rate with 2,947 passing yards and 13 touchdowns to eight interceptions. He also ran for two scores.

McKee's performance as a two-year starter made him a draftable quarterback and led him to leave Stanford a year early. He declared for the 2023 NFL Draft and was selected with the 188th overall pick in the sixth round. That marked the start of what is now a four-year tenure with the Eagles.

Career backup with a Super Bowl ring

Hurts had already established himself as a star quarterback by the time McKee arrived in Philadelphia. He was fresh off the best year of his career: A 2022 campaign in which he earned second-team All-Pro recognition. McKee was never going to be more than a backup, and he spent his rookie year in the No. 3 role behind Hurts and Marcus Mariota. He did not play that season.

McKee's first opportunity for playing time came in 2024. With Hurts in concussion protocol and backup Kenny Pickett dealing with an in-game rib injury, McKee was thrust into action in Week 17, and he could not have performed much better as two of his three completions went for touchdowns.

McKee then made his first career start in the regular-season finale and was similarly effective in a 27-for-41, 269-yard, two-touchdown win over the New York Giants. The best part of that season, though? McKee was on the sideline when the Eagles won the Super Bowl.

It was not until Week 18 of the following season that McKee returned to the starting lineup. The Eagles had already locked up their postseason position and rested their starters, and with McKee holding the primary backup job that year, he was the next man up at quarterback. He threw for 241 yards and a touchdown but also logged his first career interception in a loss to the Washington Commanders.

First meaningful start

When McKee leads the Philadelphia offense onto the field on Sunday, it will be his first start outside of Week 18. And depending on the severity of Hurts' blood clot and how long it takes for him to return to the lineup, McKee might be in line to make consecutive starts for the first time. Once Hurts is cleared to play, though, the Eagles will almost certainly thrust him back into action. Even amid a difficult start to the year and even as it seems the Eagles could be trending toward a rebuild, everything is still ahead of them.