Who Should I Start? Kirk Cousins or Tanner McKee

Thursday, July 10, 1:51 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said in an episode of the Netflix series "Quarterback" that he felt "a little bit misled" when the Falcons took Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. It came just after Atlanta signed Cousins to a contract worth at least $100 million guaranteed to be their starter in 2024 and beyond. "I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high," Cousins said. The 36-year-old led the team to a 6-3 start before injuring his right shoulder. After that, the Falcons lost four straight games, with Cousins throwing eight interceptions and no touchdowns in that stretch. He was eventually benched in Week 16 for Penix, who heads into 2025 as the unquestioned starter, with Cousins backing him up. Cousins could get traded during training camp, but for now he's useless in fantasy as a backup.

Wednesday, May 21, 2:46 PM

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee is likely to be the direct backup to Jalen Hurts in 2025 despite the team drafting Kyle McCord (Syracuse) in the sixth round of last month's NFL Draft. The team's decision to trade Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns signals confidence in McKee, who was a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Stanford. McKee appeared in two games (one start) last year, completing 30 of his 45 passing attempts for 323 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. While he's not on the fantasy football radar as a backup, it's worth noting that Hurts missed Weeks 16 and 17 in 2022 due to injury before sitting out Week 17 again in 2024. We've seen his backups, such as Gardner Minshew and Pickett, deliver fantasy-relevant performances in his absence, so McKee could be one of the top backup QBs to monitor in deeper superflex or two-QB formats.