Who Should I Start? Tanner McKee or J.J. McCarthy

Sunday, January 5, 7:00 PM

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee completed 27 of his 41 pass attempts for 269 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions during Sunday's Week 18 win over the New York Giants. He also rushed for one yard. The 24-year-old made his first career start with Jalen Hurts (concussion) inactive and Kenny Pickett (rib) also sidelined Sunday. After throwing for two touchdowns during last week's relief appearance, he came back out and added two more scores during the Eagles' regular-season finale. McKee will likely drop back down to No. 3 on the depth chart during the Wild Card Round, but at the very least, he has shown that he can be a solid fill-in quarterback in the NFL.

Wednesday, May 7, 9:26 PM

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell didn't really acknowledge whether former first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy (knee) will face competition for the starting job in 2025. "J.J. is going to be in a great position to assume and ascend in our organization," O'Connell said on The Rich Eisen Show. "But right now, we really don't have any feelings on competition as much as we've got an obligation as coaches to put our players in position to attack that competition phase." Sam Howell and Brett Rypien are the other options in the QB room. O'Connell did say that McCarthy is "owning it" this offseason and will get plenty of reps with the starters. The 22-year-old missed his entire rookie season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee, but he's fully expected to be ready for the start of 2025. O'Connell said he's seen a difference in McCarthy's footwork, rhythm, timing and cadence from a year ago. The Vikes like him a lot, so he's expected to be the starter in Week 1, where he'll be a low-end QB2 in fantasy with upside.