Tanner McKee is better than Kenny Pickett.
And it’s not even close.
And there are other takeaways from the Eagles’ 14-13 preseason win over the Patriots Thursday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
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But that’s the most significant one.
Pickett was dreadful. McKee was terrific.
More on the quarterbacks and the rest of the Eagles’ second preseason game in tonight’s 10 Instant Observations:
1. I didn’t think Pickett was that bad Friday night in Baltimore. He wasn’t great, but running a vanilla offense with backup receivers behind a makeshift offensive line, he wasn’t awful. Maybe he could build on it against the Patriots Thursday night in Foxborough. Wrong. He was awful. Pickett really looked lost at times. At one point, he took four sacks in the span of eight dropbacks, then had two pointless three-yard scrambles that could well have been sacks. Pickett struggled early in training camp with holding onto the ball too long, and that’s the Kenny Pickett we saw against the Patriots. Sacks will happen, but on a 4th-and-8? A 3rd-year veteran who’s started 24 regular-season games has to know to get rid of the football on fourth down. Even an interception is better than a sack. Throw the darn football, Kenny. Just throw the freaking ball. Pickett completed 11 of 13 passes but for only 67 yards and only 43 net yards. And 19 of those yards came on a short pass that Will Shipley turned into a long gain with an outstanding individual effort that had nothing to do with Pickett. Even in an ultra-vanilla offense, 3.3 yards per attempt is unacceptable. I hadn’t really entertained the notion that Tanner McKee could win the No. 2 quarterback spot. Until now.
Philadelphia Eagles
2. And McKee looked tremendous Thursday night. He came in to start the third quarter and immediately threw two darts – a 13-yarder to E.J. Jenkins and an 11-yarder to Joseph Ngata – that were prettier than anything Pickett tossed up all night. On his next drive, he connected on 23- and 10-yard strikes to Ngata. He was delivering quickly and firing vertically, which we haven’t seen at all from Pickett this summer. He’s clearly got the offense mastered and looks in command running it. More confident, more decisive and more accurate than Pickett. McKee was 8-for-9 for 68 yards in his first stint and would have been 9-for-9 if not for a bad drop by Jacob Harris. He re-entered the game in the fourth quarter – maybe Will Grier got hurt? – and picked up where he left off, driving the Eagles to a touchdown and then throwing a two-point conversion Ainias Smith for the win. He finished a beefy 15-for-19 for 140 yards and a 97.4 passer rating. And he didn’t take any sacks. Pickett averaged 3.3 net yards per dropback and McKee averaged 7.4. That says it all. The offense just looks so much more efficient and dynamic with the 24-year-old Pickett. Maybe McKee doesn’t have a legit shot at QB2, but if were based on merit, he would have won the job last night.
3. I really like the way Nakobe Dean is playing. He played a ton last night and ran around and made a bunch of plays as a blitzer, in coverage and in the open field. He’s looked better and better as the preseason has gone on, and maybe that shouldn’t be surprising considering he was coming off foot surgery and didn’t return to practice until the last set of OTAs in June. I thought Dean looked sluggish the first week or 10 days of camp, but really starting with the Ravens preseason game something just clicked, and I’m not convinced he’s not one of the Eagles’ two-best off-ball linebackers. I still think Devin White will be one of the starters, and I know the coaches love Zack Baun, but to me Dean has elbowed his way back in that conversation.
4. Will Shipley is fun to watch, isn’t he? His knack for making people miss in the open field is impressive for a rookie 4th-round pick. On that 19-yard catch and run on a 2nd-and-22, he could have been tackled three times but he’s got that great combination of vision, balance and power and he sure made something out of nothing on that one. We haven’t really seen Shipley produce in the running game, but he’s going to have a role on this offense in the passing game.
5. Two preseason games, two sacks for Nolan Smith. I’m not going to go crazy here, but maybe? Maybe Smith can be a factor in that edge rush equation. He does look bigger and stronger and faster and seems to have expanded his pass-rush repertoire this year. The sack in Baltimore he was just unblocked. Last night, he actually made a nice move to beat right tackle Vederian Lowe, a guy who started eight games last year. And I like how when Smith arrives at the QB, he really takes command of the rep and finishes the play. I expect Bryce Huff and Josh Sweat to both be in the 8-to-10-sack range, and if Smith can join them, that would really give Vic Fangio a nice rotation of edge rushers. Like I said, I don’t want to get carried away, but Smith has looked good all summer, and seeing him make plays in the preseason games against other teams is big.
6. Encouraging to see Avonte Maddox make a big play in the end zone on the Patriots’ second drive. Maddox stepped in front of a Jacoby Brissett pass to Austin Hooper and returned the interception 47 yards after the Patriots had driven down to the Eagles’ 8-yard-line. Maddox, in the game at safety, was physical with Hooper and really out-muscled him. The best thing about Maddox’s training camp is that he’s stayed healthy for the first 2 ½ weeks, and when he’s healthy he’s still a very good player. He’s got that slot-safety versatility that really makes him valuable. Everything about Maddox is predicated on “if he can stay healthy.” And that’s the kind of play we’ve seen Maddox make when he is healthy. It’s a very crowded defensive back room with all kinds of talent, but Maddox – already released once during the offseason and then re-signed - has been helping himself with his ability to back up at multiple spots. Plays like this one are huge when it comes to putting together the 53-man roster.
7. We didn’t really learn much about the third wide receiver competition. Former 2nd-round pick Parris Campbell returned to practice on a limited basis Tuesday but didn’t play against the Patriots, rookie Johnny Wilson sat out with a concussion and John Ross left the game with a concussion after doing a couple nice things – a 9-yard catch along with 32- and 36-yard kickoff returns. Joseph Ngata looked very good when he was in there with McKee – five catches for 88 yards, so he definitely helped himself – and Britain Covey caught his only target for a short gain. Covey has probably been the most consistent out of the group and at 5-8, 175, one of the few to stay healthy. But he’s also probably limited to the slot. Campbell has missed a week and a half, Ross was just starting to come on when he got hurt and Wilson had tailed off after a hot start when he suffered his concussion. The possibility remains fairly significant that Howie Roseman will need to go out and find a WR3 either on the street (unlikely), the waiver wire (unlikely) or through a trade (more likely). Covey will have a role no matter what happens, but I’m just not convinced the guy who will eventually be WR3 is currently on the roster.
8. Was tough seeing Tyler Steen go down in the second quarter and get carted off the field. You gotta feel for Steen, who began training camp as the starting right guard, hurt his ankle on the third day of practice, came back last Wednesday having lost his job to Mekhi Becton while he was out, tried to practice the last few days even though he was clearly not close to 100 percent, then aggravated the ankle injury Thursday night. Steen practiced the last week because he knew that was his only chance to win that right guard job back from Becton. But by doing so, he only made his own situation worse. We don’t know yet how long he’ll be out or if this is even a serious injury, but if the Eagles lose Steen for any amount of time, that really cuts into their o-line depth. Steen still has tackle in his toolbox and if he lost out on right guard to Becton, he ideally would have been a backup at guard and tackle. Darian Kinnard can play guard or tackle, and so can Nick Gates. But Steen was the Eagles’ 3rd-round pick two years ago and the Eagles are a better team when he’s healthy. Even if he’s not starting.
9. I’ve said a lot of nice things over the last couple weeks about James Bradberry. I’ve been impressed with how he accepted the move to safety like a pro, and honestly he hasn’t looked bad at practice running mainly with the second defense. But he looked absolutely awful Thursday night, out of position several times, whiffing on some tackles and just his lack of speed really showing up. I assume Howie Roseman is about ready to give up on the notion that he might be able to get a draft pick for the 31-year-old veteran, a 2nd-team all-pro just two years ago. The Bradberry we saw against the Patriots looked frighteningly similar to the Bradberry we saw last year.
10. Here’s a name we haven’t talked about: P.J. Mustipher. He showed up last night. Mustipher is a 320-pound interior lineman out of Penn State who spent some time on the Broncos’ and Saints’ practice squads last year before signing with the Eagles in March. The Eagles don’t really have a backup nose behind Jordan Davis, but Mustipher seems to have some power and athleticism and we saw it Thursday night with three tackles, including a tackle for loss. Davis, Jalen Carter and Milton Williams are the three locks along the interior d-line, but the other interior linemen – Moro Ojomo, Marlon Tuipulotu, Thomas Booker, Gabe Hall – are all relatively small and not ideally suited for the nose. Davis is going to have to play significantly more snaps than the 31 per game he averaged last year and while a backup nose isn’t a necessity – the Eagles could get by playing Tuipuiloto or Ojomo when Davis is out of the game – having a guy with Mustipher’s size sure wouldn’t hurt. Ojomo and Tuipulotu will almost certainly be on the 53, but if the Eagles keep a sixth interior lineman, Mustifer could be a good option.
11. Bonus Observation: I like that rookie safety Andre’ Sam. Fiesty kid. He’s got some juice to him.
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