When the New York Giants acquired J.J. McCarthy to fill the hole in their quarterback room, many NFL fans lambasted them over the decision. McCarthy is probably the most joked-about player in the NFL right now, which has overshadowed the savvy of giving up just a fifth-round pick to acquire a talented quarterback.
In short, with Jaxson Dart out for the year, the Giants turned to a former top-10 pick who was coached by John Harbaugh's brother Jim at Michigan. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and with Jameis Winston struggling, they needed to find someone
Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped people from dunking on New York for trading for Nine (times two). ESPN's Seth Walder recently went over his trade grades for the deal, and even he didn't have many nice things to say about it.
"It is difficult to know from the outside which other backup quarterbacks would have been available, but McCarthy still does not seem like an ideal choice," Walder wrote. "But the Giants' front office should look in the mirror over its bungling of the Winston situation."
For starters, this isn't justified in the slightest. A player with this much talent and upside deserves a second chance. And as a low-stakes backup option, there's no risk but high reward here for Big Blue,
The chip on J.J. McCarthy's shoulder is growing now that he's a Giant
McCarthy is no stranger to being overlooked. He was labeled a system quarterback at Michigan; others believed he wouldn't translate to the NFL, and once he got there, there were just too many people who wanted to tear him down rather than lift him up. It's a sad story, in all honesty.
But now that he's a Giant, none of that matters. What happened in Minnesota needs to be flushed because he finally has a coaching staff that believes in him relative to his draft price. And that should help his confidence, which is half the battle for these young quarterbacks who start to struggle.
Stylistically speaking, J.J. is the available QB that's most similar to Dart. The Giants can stick to their run-heavy game plan — something the former No. 10 pick thrives with. But unlike Jameis, he's also mobile, so Matt Nagy and Greg Roman can design some QB runs when he starts.
But they can also run the offense through quick-hitters, RPOs, and sustain long, methodical drives to win through the defense rather than Jameis' gung-ho style. That way, they don't have to ask McCarthy to do more than they need to as he learns a new system.
For as crazy as it sounds, McCarthy is a proven winner, so if he wants to prove the doubters wrong, his task is simple: keep winning and lead the New York Giants to the playoffs in what was supposed to be a lost season after Jaxson Dart's injury.
A new chapter is meant to offer second chances, so hopefully his is finally here, and he can force the Giants into an uncomfortable conversation once Dart returns.
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