J.J. McCarthy is getting the start in Week 7, and the move does more than change the name on the lineup card. It puts McCarthy ahead of Jameis Winston in the Giants’ quarterback order for Sunday’s trip to Houston, while leaving open the question of whether this is a one-game adjustment or the start of a longer shift.
McCarthy had not thrown a pass for the Giants before he came in for Winston in the fourth quarter last week against the Saints. He entered with 11:25 left, and the Giants were already down 24 points. On that first series, he threw an interception. He also finished the game as the team’s leading rusher, including a 28-yard scramble to open the final possession.
The Giants are 3-2-1 and sitting in first place in a down NFC East, so this is not a team in free fall. But they are also trying to sort out an offense that has struggled to run the ball in recent weeks, and they are doing it against a Texans defense that ranks third in the league with 18 sacks through five games.
McCarthy said he is “honored to be a quarterback for the New York Giants,” and added, “Every time you step on the field, it’s an opportunity.”
That opportunity comes with a quick turnaround. The Giants are traveling to Houston after just three days of practice, and the game arrives against a Texans team that has won back-to-back games after opening the season 0-4. Houston is also a place McCarthy knows well: he won a national championship there with Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan team in 2024.
The Giants acquired McCarthy from the Vikings in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round draft choice, a move that signaled they saw more than a short-term backup. He was widely linked to the Giants before the 2024 draft, and the team’s decision now puts him in position to start before Winston, who had started all four games since Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2.
Winston has thrown seven touchdown passes and five interceptions this season. He also produced one of the Giants’ most unusual offensive games in Week 5, when he became the only Giant since 1950 to record at least 300 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 25 rushing yards in the same game.
McCarthy’s own recent line was more modest but still notable: 11 completions on 21 attempts for 243 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The Giants also said he is 6-4 as a starter.
For now, the depth chart answer is clear: McCarthy starts, Winston backs him up, and Jake Haener is the emergency third quarterback. What is not clear yet is whether Sunday is simply the next turn in a week-to-week rotation, or the first sign that the Giants are changing the order at quarterback.