Outside of being first-round picks whose surnames start with “M,” we’re not sure that New York Giants legend Eli Manning and ex-Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy had much in common entering Monday.
All — or, at least, some — of that changed when the Giants stunningly acquired McCarthy for a 2027 fifth-round pick. The former Michigan star, who’d lost favor in Minnesota after injuries and alleged immaturity, will open his time in New York sitting behind Jameis Winston.
From the time that the Vikings acquired Kyler Murray this past spring, any trade involving McCarthy felt inevitable. He made only 10 starts over two-plus years with the Vikings, and what we saw last year wasn’t exactly inspiring.
But did the Vikings give up too early on McCarthy? Longtime New York sports columnist Gary Myers certainly sounds open to the thought, and he posted the numbers from both McCarthy’s and Manning’s first 10 starts.
What would have happened if the Giants gave up on @EliManning after his first 10 starts? Pretty dumb, considering he went on to win two Super Bowl MVPs. In no way am I predicting J.J. McCarthy will ever accomplish anything close to what Manning did, my point is teams often give…
— Gary Myers (@GaryMyersNY) September 28, 2026
“In no way am I predicting J.J. McCarthy will ever accomplish anything close to what Manning did,” Myers wrote on X/Twitter. “My point is teams often give up on QBs too quickly and you never know when things will click.”
New York Giants fans shouldn’t buy into an Eli Manning-J.J. McCarthy comp
Before lighting your pitchforks, let’s acknowledge that Myers isn’t wrong about teams giving up on quarterbacks too quickly. However, that opinion also ignores valuable context about players such as Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield needing fresh starts elsewhere, and even more so if they managed to escape dysfunctional coaching and management.
But the most important reason why a McCarthy-Manning comp doesn’t work is because the latter arrived as the clear frontrunner to win the starting job. Kurt Warner was always a rental, stopgap option to start during Manning’s rookie year, whereas the Vikings acquired Murray to challenge McCarthy for the starting job — and even then, we’re among those who believe there wasn’t a competition.
If the Vikings truly trusted McCarthy, then they’d have found a traditional backup either via free agency or trade before the draft. Imagine if the Giants had called the Buccaneers and added Brian Griese midway through the 2006 season.
We don’t blame McCarthy for missing his rookie season with a knee injury. What doomed him was inability to stay healthy and how he handled Murray’s arrival. Offseason interviews showed someone who publicly implied he took the Murray trade as a personal insult rather than a message to get things back on track.
There’s one other valuable part of any McCarthy-Manning comp, and that’s continuity. Both quarterbacks had the same coach — Kevin O’Connell and Tom Coughlin — for their first two seasons. So although the Vikings had some front office changes earlier this year, common sense suggests that O’Connell had the final call on quarterbacks.
If your own coach gives up the faith that early, that’s when you really start doubting whether McCarthy can really right the ship.
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