‘Surreal moment’: Eagles select QB Kyle McCord in the NFL draft, adding the St. Joseph’s Prep product

Kyle McCord hung up the phone and looked toward his parents. It was obvious in the room that the voices on the other end of the phone were going to be making McCord’s dream of being drafted come true.

But did the others know which NFL team had called?

“The Eagles,” McCord said to his family in a video shared on social media by Syracuse.

The room erupted. McCord, a South Jersey native from Mount Laurel, embraced his parents, Derek and Stacy, who met at Rutgers.

McCord won’t be going far to play with his first NFL team. The Eagles drafted the former St. Joseph’s Prep quarterback with pick No. 181 in the sixth round, adding another quarterback to their room.

“It was just a surreal moment,” McCord said later Saturday. “You always dream of being a quarterback on the Eagles, but obviously any team could have gotten me at that point.”

For McCord, the dream came true.

McCord played one season at Syracuse after beginning his college career at Ohio State. He threw for 34 touchdowns against 12 interceptions and completed 66% of his passes in his lone season with the Orange.

McCord was a five-star recruit and the sixth-ranked quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class. He left Ohio State after three seasons when the program decided it wanted to bring competition into the room prior to his final season, a move McCord later called a “business decision.”

» READ MORE: Kyle McCord found a home at Syracuse. Here’s how the ‘Camden Orange’ prepared him for the NFL.

At Syracuse, he found several local connections in head coach Fran Brown, offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, and others. McCord helped Syracuse to its first 10-win season since 2018 and threw for 453 yards in a bowl game win over Washington State.

McCord is the second South Jersey product the Eagles selected in this draft, joining first-round pick Jihaad Campbell. McCord took over as the starting quarterback at The Prep as a sophomore in 2018 and led the powerhouse program to three consecutive state championships. He played at The Prep with current Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

McCord becomes the fourth quarterback in the room for the Eagles, who have Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson on the roster.

“I think it’s one of the strongest quarterback rooms in the entire league,” McCord said. “It’s a great room. I’m super excited to just go in there and be a sponge and pick up as much as I can being the young guy in there.”

The depth chart will sort itself out later. For now, the kid who used to wear his Donovan McNabb jersey to Eagles games at Lincoln Financial Field was living a childhood dream.

“It still really hasn’t hit me yet that I’m on the team and I’m a quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles,” McCord said. “That doesn’t even seem real to say. I’m sure it’ll hit me later tonight.”

Downingtown native Will Howard was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with pick No. 185 overall in the sixth round.

Howard won the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship at Ohio State, throwing for 231 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame in Atlanta. Before he was a national champion at Ohio State, Howard was a three-star quarterback prospect at Downingtown West. He enrolled at Kansas State in January 2020, and threw for 5,786 yards and 48 touchdowns in 34 games over four seasons for the Wildcats.

Howard transferred to Ohio State after his 2023 season at Kansas State, replacing McCord. Howard threw for 4,010 yards and 35 touchdowns as the Buckeyes marched to a 14-2 record and a title.

The Steelers needed a quarterback, as both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields signed elsewhere after spending the 2024 season in Pittsburgh. They signed Mason Rudolph, who spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Steelers. Pittsburgh also remains a possible landing spot for veteran free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Howard was the eighth quarterback taken in the 2025 draft.

Penn State already had Abdul Carter (Giants) and Tyler Warren (Colts) drafted in the first round and Kevin Winston Jr. (Titans) in the third round.

On Day 3, the Houston Texans selected safety Jaylen Reed with the 188th overall pick in the sixth round.

Reed, listed at 6-foot, 211 pounds, played four seasons for the Nittany Lions after arriving on campus as a four-star recruit in 2021. In Reed’s senior season, he was named to the all-Big Ten second team after recording 51 solo tackles, 2½ sacks, and three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

Kobe King was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with pick No. 201 overall in the sixth round.

A native of Detroit, King played four seasons at Penn State, recording 200 career tackles and 4½ sacks. King started all 16 games the Nittany Lions played in 2024, earning second-team all-Big Ten honors with 97 tackles (nine for loss) and three sacks. He was a team captain for the College Football Playoff semifinalist Nittany Lions in 2024.

South Jersey native Bhayshul Tuten was drafted 104th by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round.

Tuten starred at Paulsboro High School, rushing for 3,768 yards and 77 touchdowns in four seasons. He started his career at FCS program North Carolina A&T in 2021 and transferred to Virginia Tech after his sophomore season.

In two seasons with the Hokies, Tuten rushed for 2,022 yards and scored 25 touchdowns.

Camden native Miles Frazier was drafted by the Detroit Lions with pick No. 171 overall in the fifth round.

Frazier committed to Florida International out of Milford Academy (N.Y.). The 6-6, 317-pound offensive lineman started at Woodrow Wilson High School, now Eastside High, before spending a post-grad season at Milford.

Frazier redshirted the 2020 season with the Panthers, and earned Freshman All-America honors in 2021 as a redshirt. He transferred to Louisiana State in 2022. Frazier made 39 starts in three seasons at LSU, primarily at right guard.

Fadil Diggs, Frazier’s high school teammate at Woodrow Wilson, was drafted by the New Orleans Saints with pick No. 254 overall in the seventh round.

A native of Camden, Diggs was the 2021 Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year at Eastside High. He started his college career as a four-star recruit at Texas A&M. He spent four seasons with the Aggies before transferring to Syracuse for his final season just as McCord did to play for the Camden native Brown in the coach’s first season. Diggs notched 120 tackles and 15½ sacks over the course of his college career.