Eagles-Giants Film Review: Tanner McKee should be QB2

Offensive and defensive analysis from Philadelphia’s Week 18 win over New York.

Right, this is going to be a quick Eagles review so I can watch some Packers film. I will have a playoff preview out at the end of the week. I didn’t want to completely ignore the Giants’ game because we did get to see some interesting backups, so here are a few very quick points on the offense and defense.

Offense

Dallas Goedert was the best player on the field in the first quarter and it wasn’t close. He looked excellent, which is great to see heading into the playoffs. It’s easy to forget just how much better Goedert is than the alternatives at tight end, and the Eagles really need him to stay healthy throughout the playoffs. He excels on these intermediate out routes, and Tanner McKee threw some beautiful passes outside the numbers in this game. Considering his size, I wondered if the offense would attack the middle of the field more, but I thought McKee was at his best outside the numbers, which makes him an ideal backup for Jalen Hurts!

We got an extended look at Jahan Dotson and Johnny Wilson this week, and I was far more impressed with Dotson. This is hardly surprising; he’s a former first-round pick! I don’t see the vertical juice with Wilson, and I think he should be a big slot and a red zone specialist moving forward. Dotson still struggles against press, and this is his biggest flaw, but when he had a free release, he ran some beautiful routes in this one, as we will see below.

Ah man, I love this play call. The Eagles ran a similar play against the Packers week 1 when Saquon Barkley ran through the B-gap and scored on a wheel route. I’m a little surprised the Eagles put it on film this week, but maybe they are looking at running a variation of it this week against the Packers. It’s a fantastic concept.

Here is one of those outstanding routes I spoke about with Dotson. Let’s talk about Tanner McKee. I thought he was very good and should be the Eagles QB2 immediately. If Jalen Hurts goes down in the playoffs, I want to see him as the next man up. I won’t get into his future in this article, but I think he’s a limited starter due to his mobility and inability to create outside of structure. I can’t see a team looking at him and trading for him as their starting quarterback. With that in mind, I would be very happy to move Kenny Pickett and keep McKee as the number 2 QB over the next few years. Although he’s not mobile, he can run a similar offense that quickly gets the ball outside the numbers. I thought he played well.

I wasn’t that impressed by Will Shipley as a running back, but we saw some good things in space. He was good as a pass catcher coming out of college, and he can provide value in this area. It will be interesting to see if the team thinks he can step up and replace Gainwell next year, I’m still undecided.

After his incredible start, McKee did cool off a little. Due to his lack of mobility, I think he does want to get the ball out of his hands very quickly. Whilst that is a good trait, it does make him vulnerable to post-snap rotation. He was lucky not to get picked off here, and he also had a poor throw on a 4th down when the Giants’ cornerbacks confused him. Still, it was a very promising performance. I wish we had gotten to see him play meaningful snaps versus Washington. Who knows, would the Eagles be the #1 seed if he had? It’s possible.

This is my favorite throw of the day. Once again, it’s a great ball outside the numbers. Young quarterbacks are often ‘see it – throw it’ quarterbacks and they rarely throw with anticipation. McKee throws with anticipation as you would expect an old school pocket quarterback to do. I said in my post-draft film review that I think he would have been a 1st round pick 10 years ago, and I wasn’t kidding!

Defense

There wasn’t a great deal to takeaway from the defense in this one, but I thought the Eagles’ starting defensive linemen who played were great. Moro Ojomo, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams all had their moments. The Eagles’ at defensive tackle looks strong heading into the playoffs. They are going to need their defensive tackles to play well, because the less said about Bryce Huff in this one the better…

I have never been the biggest fan of Jordan Davis. I understand the value he brings, and I know he’s a good player, I just wish he made a few more splash plays. I see plays like this and just wish we saw it more. He’s such a unique athlete, and he had some ridiculous plays in this one, I just wish we saw it more.

I was impressed with Kelee Ringo in this game. He had some excellent clips. Just look how smooth he looks in this clip below. I’m unsure what will happen with Darius Slay this off-season, but I do wonder if Ringo will get an opportunity to start next season as an outside cornerback. He also stands out whenever I see him.

Once again, look at Ringo on this one! However, this rep is all about Sydney Brown. Isaiah Rodgers has good coverage, but Sydney Brown comes flying over to make sure it’s incomplete. I have no idea what to think of Sydney Brown in this game. He was reckless. His tackling technique was terrible. I can imagine Vic Fangio being furious with a few of this plays. Despite all of this, just look at the range he shows here as a single-high safety. The Eagles don’t have another play with this range in the secondary. I’m unsure what role he will have next year, but I’m not ready to give up on him yet.

Let’s end with Oren Burks. He was excellent. I thought Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was fine, but Burks stole the show. He was all over the field and always close to the ball. Eagles linebacker coach Bobby King deserves so much credit for the development of the Eagles’ linebackers this year. It’s been a long time since the position has been this stable. If Burks is needed in the playoffs, I feel fine about him coming in.

If you want a preview of the Packers film preview, I’ll be posting daily thoughts on Discord, which is attached to my Patreon. You can find the link here, as well as more of my work and podcast here.