A Stanford quarterback with mixed and limited production during his time in the offense, but Tanner McKee has enough physical tools to keep teams interested and he could boost his stock in the pre-draft process as he looks to enter the 2023 NFL draft.
Here is everything you need to know about the Cardinal QB:
Vitals
Height: 6-6
Weight: 231
Class: Junior
Strengths
Tanner McKee has prototypical size, frame, and arm strength at the position, he is by all accounts a traditional pocket passer in the way they were built back a generation ago. He has a clean release and is generally an accurate quarterback when not under pressure and understands what is being played in front of him. He has excellent diagnostic skills and can pick apart a defense if not faced with a ton of pressure, he understands what adjustments are taking place and how best to attack them.
His arm talent is excellent from the pocket with the ability to make the majority of NFL throws with success. McKee excels at ball placement, and variation throws that need to be layered correctly. He maintained a quarterback rating of 126.0 last season despite an offensive shift to a more RPO-style offense and he had little trouble adjusting to it despite not being the most athletically gifted quarterback, so there is hope he can make adjustments and maneuver in most NFL-style offenses.
Weaknesses
As noted above, McKee lacks in the athleticism department and is strictly a dropback pocket passer. He has very little evade ability in the pocket and when pressured becomes erratic in his throws and really has no second option to speak of. There is really no fix to his lack of athleticism in the NFL, coaches will need to work with him to stop him from being so jittery in the pocket under pressure and maintain his mechanics to maximize his success under pressure.
There is also a noted lack of production as well as mistakes that should not happen with a next-level quarterback. While some of that can be attributed to the lack of talent surrounding him, his trust in his arm is very bloated and often gets him to make awful throws into windows that are simply not there. Combined with the mechanical breakdowns under pressure this leads to a lot of errant passes and a lot of turnovers.
Projection
Teams are going to fall in love with Tanner McKees physical build, arm talent, and football IQ and for good reason, he has the makings of a true drop back quarterback with enough of a skill set to succeed in this league. Once they dig deeper however and see his breakdowns under pressure, his underwhelming production, and his lack of evasion ability it will peel back a prospect that needs a lot of work to start in this league. He could be successful behind an excellent offensive line, but it would be hard to trust him as anything more than a gifted backup who develops into a low-end starter at some point in his career. Teams are always in search of high-level backups, so while he won’t go in the first round by any means, he has the potential to go fairly early.
Projection: Fourth-Round Pick
