In the aftermath of the Giants’ overtime win Sunday, the interaction “meant the world” to J.J. McCarthy. But general manager Joe Schoen being “fired up” and telling McCarthy “we believe in you,” as McCarthy recalled, was a bit ironic, too.
Two years ago, the Giants had the chance to draft McCarthy at No. 6 overall, but they had apparent skepticism about his mental makeup and ability to handle the market, according to The Post’s Paul Schwartz. In the present, though, Big Blue now believes in McCarthy enough to let him run the offense for a Giants team entering the bye at 4-2-1, sitting atop the NFC East and staring down a legit chance at cracking the postseason tournament.
McCarthy aced his first impression with an NFL-record 243 yards across an 11-minute span against the Saints before following that up with the thriller in Houston.
“What I would say is when we’re going through the process, the process is so thorough that — or our process I feel like is thorough — that it may not be for today,” Schoen said of what changed. “Maybe it’s not for this year’s draft, but down the road you may be able to make a move like what we made because of the research we did on J.J.
“There’s some people you rule out because they don’t fit, and maybe you wouldn’t trade for that player, but because of the work we had done on J.J. in the predraft process, we felt comfortable with who the kid was, and we liked the film that we saw from Minnesota.”
The obvious link to McCarthy runs through the Harbaugh family, with John coaching the Giants and his brother, Jim, the coach of Michigan when McCarthy won a national championship there. But to get to the Giants in exchange for a fifth-round pick, McCarthy missed the entire 2024 season while injured, then tumbled down the Vikings depth chart.
He managed just 1,632 passing yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 10 games last year, but through nearly five quarters with the Giants, McCarthy is at 495 yards, one touchdown, one interception, one near-comeback and one thrilling win on the road.
This will all get interesting for the Giants in the offseason if McCarthy continues to match the hype that his initial performances generated. Jaxson Dart, positioned as the potential franchise quarterback before his injury, is still on crutches after his surgery but “still thinks if we make the playoffs that he’s going to be able to come back,” Schoen said with a laugh.
Jameis Winston was signed to a two-year, $13 million extension before the season. And McCarthy has one year remaining on his rookie deal, as well as a fifth-year team option for 2028, too.
“It’s a really good room, I would say,” Schoen said. “It’s probably one of the stronger ones in the league. … It’s a good position to be in. And hopefully J.J. and Jameis can stay healthy throughout the rest of this year, and J.J. can continue to play at a high level.”
That’ll all come into focus over the weeks and months that follow. But after a whirlwind of a month, McCarthy’s life has started to settle into place, too. His wife, Katya, and his son, Rome, are coming to the area Thursday and staying for good. McCarthy said he hasn’t seen them in a month. His brother-in-law’s girlfriend is running in the New York City Marathon, and he said he’ll be able to enjoy New York City while preparing to make sure the Giants offense becomes his “formal language” for when they return from the bye week with two games in five days against the Eagles and Commanders.
And in just a month’s time, the Giants’ belief in him has continued to mount — a stark U-turn from the message they sent with their draft decision two years ago.
“That’s all you could ask for,” McCarthy said when asked about the Giants’ belief in him now. “Obviously, one that believes in himself needs no convincing of others, but it feels really good when the people that are around you and supporting you really, truly have that belief in you for sure.”
