If the 2024 season taught the Philadelphia Eagles anything about the quarterback position, it’s that while Jalen Hurts is magnificent, the reigning Super Bowl Most Valuable Player isn’t invincible.
Hurts battled injuries throughout the second half of the season that impacted his play in some pretty dramatic ways. First, a broken finger on his non-throwing hand that essentially caused a mutiny among Philadelphia’s diva wide receivers when they weren’t getting the ball enough.
Then, a concussion that cost Hurts all but one quarter of the final 3 games of the regular season. That led to 2 different quarterbacks making starts down the stretch, although both Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee won both starts in place of Hurts.
That’s why it should have been less of a surprise when the Eagles drafted another quarterback in the sixth round with Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. The Ringer’s Steven Ruiz thinks McCord might actually end up leapfrogging McKee to become Philadelphia’s No. 2 quarterback behind Hurts.
“I like the Kyle McCord pick,” Ruiz said on “The Ringer NFL Show” podcast on April 27. “Like I think that’s a good flyer to take on Day 3. It kind of fits with their decent rotation of quarterbacks they have now. Like even if Jalen Hurts gets hurt, I feel like they have two guys that they could go to … I think eventually McCord could be a guy that could step in and start a couple games in a row.”
‘Homegrown’ McCord Led FBS in Passing in 2024
McCord is a homegrown product, and grew up in the Eagles’ backyard in South Jersey. That’s where he led St. Joseph’s Prep to 3 consecutive state championships alongside current Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
McCord started at Ohio State in 2023 before he transferred to Syracuse for his final season. He led the FBS in passing in 2024 with 4,779 passing yards to go with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“It has been a little bit of a wild ride,” McCord told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dave Zangaro. “St. Joe’s, had a lot of success there, been around a lot of great people. And then went to Ohio State, same story, had a lot of fun and around a lot of great people, got coached by some great coaches. And then to go into the portal, one year at Syracuse, and to have the year that we had, it was a lot of fun. And so being here right now, it’s a little surreal. It was a dream growing up, and so just trying to soak it all in.”
Eagles Will Open Up Competition for QB2
If drafting McCord — and trading Pickett — signifies anything for the Eagles, it’s that the competition to be Hurts’ backup is wide open.
While McKee shined in his one start against the New York Giants in the regular season finale, there’s not much stake we can put in winning a game against arguably the NFL’s worst team and with most of the starters for the Eagles sitting out.
Thompson-Robinson was essentially cannon fodder in his first 2 seasons with the Cleveland Browns, going 1-4 in 5 starts.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Eagles Praised for Taking ‘Flyer’ on 4,700-Yard Homegrown QB in Draft appeared first on Heavy Sports.