EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants have a quarterback decision to make.They can go with the veteran Jameis Winston, who just lost his first game as a starter this season, or the recently acquired and still somewhat unknown J.J. McCarthy on the road Sunday against the Houston Texans (1 p.m. ET, Fox).Coach John Harbaugh declined to make a decision on Monday, although it does appear to be coming soon with the Giants (3-2-1) scheduled to have a team meeting Tuesday and their first practice of the week Wednesday.
Just when it appeared Winston had closed his vice grip on the starting job, McCarthy went out Sunday and opened some eyes with his fourth-quarter performance. He had 243 yards passing and led three scoring drives in less than 12 minutes.
"I thought he came in there and did a heck of a job given the circumstances," Harbaugh said.
Just like that, a quarterback conundrum was born, leaving Harbaugh with two realistic options to be his starting quarterback this week.
Here's a closer look at the decision:
Jameis Winston
Pros
Winston has been the quarterback ever since Jaxson Dart sustained his season-ending knee injury in the second quarter of the Giants' Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It has been an up-and-down five games for Winston, but Sunday against the Saints was his first loss in four starts. The Giants are 2-1-1 since Winston took over as the starter and are in first place in the NFC East. They aren't in a position where they need to make any panic moves, such as switching QBs.Winston has seven touchdown passes and four interceptions in his four starts. So it's not as if the Giants have struggled to get into the end zone with him at quarterback. Only seven quarterbacks have thrown more touchdown passes than Winston during that span this season.
Winston also has done it without a consistent running game. The Giants are 22nd in the NFL, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry over the past four games.
What Winston does have in his back pocket is time on task with his top receivers: wide receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely. They've spent the past month getting on the same page. Nabers has three straight 100-yard games. Likely (383 receiving yards) is less than 100 yards shy of setting a new career high. It's only Week 7.Nabers, Likely and the locker room have full confidence in Winston. They've already seen they can win games with him as the quarterback and watched him play at a relatively high level throughout his career. They know that's in him.
"We all believe in Jameis," fullback Patrick Ricard said. "Jameis puts everything into this. He's a great leader. We know what he's capable of but I guess we'll see."Cons
The Jameis Winston experience. With Winston comes inconsistent plays and mistakes. His four interceptions are tied for fifth most since becoming the starter. His 45.6 QBR is 22nd among 30 qualifying quarterbacks.
So it's not as if Winston has played great. But he has played well enough to win games. It also should be noted that Winston's four starts were against the Titans, Cardinals, Commanders and Saints -- teams with a combined 6-17-1 record. The schedule is going to be much less forgiving from here on out, with matchups against the unbeaten 49ers, the division-leading Jaguars and Browns, and a strong Seahawks squad coming up.
If the Giants are dreaming about the potential for better quarterback play ...
J.J. McCarthy
Pros
The element of the unknown is perhaps McCarthy's most attractive trait. He has talent as a top-10 pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, and who knows, there might be high-end quarterback play buried somewhere in there.At the very least, McCarthy flashed that potential in his short stint Sunday. It was impressive.
So was McCarthy's ability to throw the ball deep downfield. He went 3-of-4 for 119 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions on passes of 20 air yards or more. Winston did not attempt any such passes against the Saints.
Harbaugh said he would judge the quarterbacks based on "performance." And it's hard to argue what McCarthy did leading the Giants on three scoring drives and close to a fourth even though it was in a helter-skelter football circumstance trying to rally in the final minutes.
McCarthy could also provide a much-needed boost to the running game. The Giants designed an offense for Dart filled with zone-reads and quarterback rollouts. That's better suited to McCarthy's game than Winston's. Harbaugh conceded that.
"The elements that we're talking about with some of the read plays and some of the different things you do moving the quarterback around," Harbaugh said, "those are definitely things that are part of the equation."
The Giants are looking for a way to jump-start their run game, and McCarthy might be it.
Cons
A young and relatively inexperienced quarterback like McCarthy making his first start on the road against a defense like the Texans isn't ideal. Houston's defense hasn't been great this season, but it's still third in the NFL with 18 sacks and has perhaps the league's best pass rush duo with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter on the edges.McCarthy has a 41.2% completion rate and minus-9.3 completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) under pressure since the start of last season. That ranks in the bottom half of the league among qualifiers.
Winston has a much more serviceable 50.0% completion rate and minus-0.4 CPOE. That would seem to give him a better chance against the Texans.
McCarthy also has had very few reps with Nabers and Likely, having arrived three weeks ago.
"You guys saw them," McCarthy said on Sunday, referring to the fourth quarter against the Saints.
They had almost no on-field working relationship prior to this past weekend. Only a few throws on the side at practice and pregame warmups.
It makes the bye week perhaps a better spot to make the switch (if necessary) to avoid the possibility of crushing McCarthy's confidence after an already rocky introduction to the NFL with the Vikings.