An interesting turn in the Kyle McCord-Dorian Thompson-Robinson 3rd QB battle

An interesting turn in the Kyle McCord-Dorian Thompson-Robinson 3rd QB battle originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Kyle McCord was the hot-shot rookie from Syracuse who led college football in passing last year, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the Browns castoff with the worst touchdown-interception ratio in the NFL in the 50 years.

The competition for the Eagles' 3^rd-string quarterback spot hasn't gone quite the way you might have expected a month ago.

McCord, the rookie 5^th-round pick, has struggled much of training camp and had a tough NFL debut in the preseason opener vs. the Bengals. But DTR, after a difficult first few days of practice, has looked sharp and is clearly in the lead for the No. 3 spot behind Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee.

It's a natural progression," Thompson-Robinson said of his improvement over the past week and a half. Obviously,coming inatOTAs and everything, you are kind of at the bottom of the depth chart and youhaveto work your way through getting some reps here and there.

But I think we found ways outside of those practice reps to really get mental reps in, walkthroughs, throwing routes on air to guys and stuff like that.So just tried to take advantage of everything.

Just keep trying to learnthescheme, teammates, the city and just filling it out as it goes. Really just trying to make sure I'm doing my job in every situation, both on and off the field."

DTR's numbers with the Browns were ugly. In parts of 15 games over the last two years, including five starts, he threw one touchdown pass and 10 interceptions and had a 45.2 passer rating, lowest among the 90 active quarterbacks who've thrown at least 100 passes.

But he hasn't looked like that quarterback this summer. He's been increasinglyproductive at practice and enjoyed a nice preseason opener Thursday night against the Bengals with 5-for-8 for 56 yards, including a 24-yard completion to Taylor Morin.

When the Eagles acquired Thompson-Robinson in the Kenny Pickett trade, he went from a franchise that's won one playoff game and averaged 5 wins per year since the franchise came back to life in 1999, to a team that's won 20 playoff games and two Super Bowls and averaged 9 wins per year during the same span.

DTR was careful not to criticize a Browns franchise that drafted him in the fourth round in 2023 - and that he'll practice again for two days next week. But he's clearly thrilled to be here.

Obviously, the Eagles have done it right for a long time and so being able to get to see that process behind the scenes has been fun," he said after practice Saturday.

And I've definitely learned a lot in these four or five months that I've been here. But I'm really excited for this new opportunity, excited for a new chance, a new life in my career and trying to take full advantage of it. Cause you know, it could be here today, gone tomorrow."

McCord was just 1-for-5 for eight yards and an interception in his NFL debut Thursday night, and we've seen the same struggles at practice from the 22-year-old from St. Joe's Prep.

But that's not unexpected from a rookie in this offense.

I feel like you come in the first year and it's gonna be a big learning adjustment, especially for a quarterback," he said after practice Saturday. And so just trying to be a sponge in the room. And obviously the volume of reps isn't high, but that's why you have to be really good watching film, learning when the other guys are in.

And then when you do get your opportunity, using thosereps to your advantage and learningoff those reps as well. So I feel like every day taking a step in the right direction, learning from my mistakes."

The Eagles are in a curious position with the No. 3 quarterback spot. The last thing they want to do is release a rookie draft pick, especially a quarterback. This is theQuarterback Factory after all.

But it's unlikely they would keep four quarterbacks, and if DTR is clearly ahead of McCord by the Aug. 26 roster deadline, they might not have a choice.

They could probably sneak McCord through waivers to the practice squad, but you never know. Maybe there's a team out there that likes McCord better than their 3^rd-stringer.

But there are a lot of practices and a couple games before they have to make that decision, and a lot could change over the next 2 weeks.

Nobody's gonna be a harder critic on me than I am on myself," said McCord, a Mount Laurel native. And I expect to play really good football every single time I go out there on the field.

And I think that obviously maybe isn't that super realistic, going out there as a rookie, I don't know. But that's my expectation, and so when that's not the case, I think there's always room for improvement and room for growth."