Less than a month after the Giants acquired him from the Vikings, J.J. McCarthy is taking over as Big Blue’s starting quarterback. The Giants plan to start McCarthy against the Texans in Week 7, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
Head coach John Harbaugh is making the switch after McCarthy outplayed Jameis Winston in a 34-27 loss to the Saints last Sunday. Winston, who went 14 of 26 for 152 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, was yanked in the fourth quarter in favor of McCarthy. The Giants trailed 34-10 at the time, but McCarthy nearly sparked a comeback during a 243-yard outburst. McCarthy finished 11 of 21 with a touchdown and a pick. He also added 26 yards on two runs.
The Giants are off to an NFC East-leading 3-2-1 start, but they have been on shaky ground since they lost starting signal-caller Jaxson Dart to a season-ending knee injury in Week 2. Although the Giants gave Winston a two-year, $13MM extension in early September, the mistake-prone journeyman was not given a long leash as Dart’s replacement.
In five games and four starts this season, the 32-year-old Winston has completed 57% of throws, averaged a career-low 6.1 yards per attempt, and tossed seven scores against five picks. Winston’s passer rating (76.4) and QBR (39.9) are solidly below average, though he is middle of the pack (29th out of 56 signal-callers) in EPA per play.
Despite McCarthy’s encouraging relief outing against the Saints, he is far from a lock to provide an upgrade over Winston. The Vikings took McCarthy 10th overall in 2024, but they quickly pulled the plug after the Michigan product failed to establish himself as a starting-caliber option in Minnesota.
McCarthy missed his entire rookie season with a meniscus injury, clearing the way for veteran Sam Darnold to revive his career during a 14-win campaign. Former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah lost Darnold to the Seahawks and Daniel Jones to the Colts in free agency in 2025, though, and that left the starting job open for McCarthy. However, he dealt with three more injuries – a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his right hand – and missed seven games. When healthy enough to play, McCarthy was among the worst passers in the NFL. Over 10 games, McCarthy completed 57.6% of passes, threw more INTs (12) than TDs (11), and put up a 72.2 rating and a 35.7 QBR.
While the Vikings won six of McCarthy’s 10 starts, their win total fell by five during a 9-8 season that ended without a playoff berth. Adofo-Mensah’s mishandling of the QB position played a key role in his firing last January. The Vikings did not hire his replacement until springtime, leaving head coach Kevin O’Connell and executive vice president Rob Brzezinski in charge of the roster for the bulk of the offseason.
To address the game’s most important position, O’Connell and Brzezinski added former Cardinals two-time Pro Bowler Kyler Murray on a buy-low pact in free agency and re-signed Carson Wentz. McCarthy was given a chance to compete with Murray for starting duties, but he lost that battle. To worsen matters, he couldn’t even beat out Wentz for the No. 2 role. It became clear McCarthy’s days were numbered in Minnesota, and they ended when first-year GM Nolan Teasley sent him to the Giants in late September for a fifth-round pick in 2027. At that point, the Giants were scrambling for help in the wake of Dart’s injury.
McCarthy will now have a chance to establish himself in New York, but he will face a tough challenge in his first start. The Giants are going on the road to face a Houston defense that hasn’t been the dominant unit it was a year ago, but it still boasts several high-end performers. Defensive end Will Anderson Jr., the league’s sack leader (7.5), is chief among them.
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