Tanner McKee Scouting Report and NFL Draft Profile
Tanner McKee Scouting Report: Stanford, QB
2023 NFL Draft Measurements
Tanner McKee 40-yard Dash: TBD
6’6″ / 231 lbs
Tanner McKee Draft Profile
A four-star recruit, McKee was on the radar of most of the nation’s top programs coming out of Centennial High School in California. The team’s starter during his junior and senior years, Tanner would lead his school to two league titles, as well as two CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) titles. He would end his prep career with 6,614 passing yards, 62 touchdowns, and 1,288 yards rushing. In the record books, he ranks first in completion percentage (73%), second in passing yards, and also owns the single-game record for rushing yards (209).
Although he was considered one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects, Tanner took a bit of a different path to start his college career. Growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it was already determined that once he graduated high school, he would go on a two-year mission. And that he did, as he spent two years in Brazil before finally getting to start his collegiate career with the Cardinal.
College Career
His freshman season was the Covid-shortened 2020 season. Tanner would only see action in one game, going 3-7 for 62 yards vs Oregon. In 2021 he would play in 10 games, making a start in nine of those games. He became just the 13th FBS quarterback since 2012 to beat a ranked opponent in their first career start (#14 USC). McKee would finish the season with 2,327 yards passing, 15 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
Tanner was named a team captain heading into the 2022 season. McKee would start in all 12 games for the Cardinal. Even though the team didn’t see a ton of success, McKee would finish the season throwing for 2,947 yards (ninth most passing yards in a single season in Stanford history), with 13 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He was named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and won the Gundelach Award (given to the team’s most outstanding junior).
McKee would finish his collegiate career going 473-748 (63%), 5,336 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
Strengths
Size
At 6’6″ and 231 pounds, McKee has that old school, prototypical NFL size that scouts and GM’s used to drool over. He’s plenty big enough to be able to see over NFL lineman. He’s also thick enough to withstand taking hits, something that he had plenty of experience doing during his time at Stanford. Unfortunately for him, size isn’t as important as it was 15 years ago.
Arm Strength
To go along with that NFL size, Tanner also has a cannon attached to his right shoulder. He’s got more than enough arm strength in order to make any throw that could be asked of him from any NFL offense. Sadly, the arm talent doesn’t match up with the arm strength, but we’ll get into that later on.
Weaknesses
Delivery
McKee’s delivery is a strange one. First, it’s really long and drawn out. Because of this, he often leaves the ball vulnerable to pass rushers. On top of that, he appears to change up his delivery based on if he wants to throw with touch or power. When throwing with power he steps into the throw and let’s it rip. But when he wants to throw with touch, he almost looks like he’s slowing down the throwing motion. At this point he looks more like he’s shot putting the ball more than throwing it.
Athleticism
When I first heard about Tanner, people made him sound like a statue in the pocket. I would say that he’s more athletic than people give him credit for. However, let’s not get carried away. While he’s got just enough speed to move around and extend plays, he’s far from winning any track meets. He also isn’t nimble enough to handle a ton of traffic when the pocket starts to collapse. In today’s day and age, where mobility is more important than size, McKee came out on the wrong end of the skill tree.
Accuracy
When you look at Tanner’s stats, you’re going to see a guy that completed over 60% of his passes during the two years that he started. But if you sit down and watch him play, you see that his accuracy isn’t all that great. He doesn’t really throw passes with anticipation. He’s the opposite of how I described Alabama’s Bryce Young. Also, when throwing with touch he tends to miss more often than when he puts some power behind it.
Tanner McKee Draft Stock
I was honestly a little surprised to see on NFL Mock Draft Database that McKee was ranked as the 90th overall prospect, based on their information. That’s good enough to be a 3rd round grade. I would disagree with this assessment personally.
Final Thoughts on Tanner McKee
McKee is a quarterback prospect that’s getting drafted in the wrong era. If this was 15 years ago, simply based on his size and arm strength, there’s a good chance that he’s in the conversation as a top quarterback prospect. But in today’s NFL, size is no longer that factor that allows teams to overlook shortcomings in other areas. Personally, I see Tanner more of a developmental prospect which is why I disagree with the 3rd round grade from above.
In the third round, teams can still get players that should be able to contribute as a rookie. I think that McKee still needs work before he could really be counted on in that fashion. Personally, wouldn’t think of drafting McKee until later on Day 3 at the earliest. Honestly, I think other prospects like Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker or Fresno St.’s Jake Haener would make for better picks in the 3rd round.
Tanner McKee Player Comparison
Tanner McKee Scouting Report Analyst – Brandon Claburn
