Nick Sirianni confirms former Steelers QB Kenny Pickett is Eagles' backup behind Jalen Hurts

The cross-state Steelers’ new quarterbacks have been the talk of Pennsylvania. But what’s going on with Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh’s first round pick from 2022 who started for the team for nearly three seasons?

Well, he’s now with the Eagles and Thursday’s game against the Patriots basically cemented Pickett’s status as QB2 behind Jalen Hurts. However, there are questions as to whether Philadelphia’s Tanner McKee should be Hurts’ No. 2 instead of Pickett.

Reporters asked Eagles coach Nick Sirianni about his QB depth chart following the team’s 14-3 win over the Patriots.

“You saw where they went in today,” Sirriani said reporters Thursday night. “Kenny is No. 2 and Tanner is our No. 3. And I am really happy they’re both on the roster.”

Pickett put together some nice stats. He competed 11 of his 13 passes for 67 yards. However, the Patriots defense sacked him four times. Of course, there are a variety of reasons for the sacks — screw ups in the line, a running back misses a block, the quarterback holds onto the ball too long, etc.

McKee then entered the game in the third quarter. The Eagles selected the former Stanford star in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Both of McKee’s drives ended with an unsuccessful fourth-down attempt. McKee got another chance after Will Grier enjoyed two drives.

Then it was back to McKee, who led the Eagles on the go-ahead drive. He completed the drive with a flourish thanks to a two-point conversion. McKee finished 15 of 19 for 140 yards and zero sacks.

“I thought they both did some good things today,” Sirianni said in his post-game Eagles presser. “I think, you know, Kenny was what, 11 of 13? Ball only hit the ground twice. He had some pressure on him. Tanner played well. I think he was 15 of 19 today, but made some good throws. I thought Will did some good things. I’m happy they’re all on the roster right now. I really am. That’s good room and they’re all helping Jalen, helping each other, and I love that. So really is a good room.”

Grier took a circuitous route to the Eagles last year. The Cowboys cut him with the intention of adding him to their practice squad. However, he ended up with the Bengals, then the Patriots before heading to the Chargers. He finished the season with the Eagles.

Although Pickett only threw two incompletions, it appeared most of his throws were check downs. A NextGen analysis showed that Pickett’s average per attempt was 4.3 yards. Plus, his average throw was only 7.55 yards.

In 67 plays in his two preseason appearances, Pickett completed 25 of 35 passes. But only one of his passes was thrown for more than 10 yards. There were zero of longer than 15. As for McKee, most of his completions went for bigger plays.

“Again, like I said, I think they’re both doing a nice job,” the Eagles coach said. “Yeah, Tanner made some really nice throws down the field today with some good anticipation. I’ll have to look at the tape of what happened, but they both had good practices to this date. They both I thought played solid today. I’ll have to watch the tape to see exactly what happened. Hard to say exactly — I don’t remember any plays that I felt like Kenny made and I’m like, oh, man this was detrimental. Obviously you go back, or even with Tanner. I didn’t have any of those notes down like that. I thought they both played well within the scheme and both did some nice things.”