J.J. McCarthy Is the Giants' Starter in Houston, and Jameis Winston Heads to the Bench After Six Weeks

The New York Giants are changing quarterbacks. Head coach John Harbaugh announced after Wednesday's practice that J.J. McCarthy will start Sunday's Week 7 game against the Houston Texans, moving Jameis Winston into the backup role and making Jake Haener the emergency third quarterback, according to the team's official Week 7 tracker. CBS Sports and Bleacher Report confirmed the move the same day.

The decision ends a six-week stretch in which Winston held the job after Jaxson Dart's season-ending knee injury in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams. It also hands the offense to a quarterback the Giants acquired less than a month ago, and it reshapes the fantasy outlook for one of the league's most targeted receivers.

How the Giants got here

The switch was set up by Sunday's 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Winston struggled through three quarters, and Harbaugh pulled him early in the fourth with New York trailing 34-10. McCarthy entered and nearly authored one of the season's wildest comebacks: the Giants scored 17 unanswered points in the final 11 minutes, and their last drive reached the New Orleans 14-yard line before McCarthy's fourth-and-1 throw to tight end Isaiah Likely fell incomplete in the back of the end zone.

Immediately after the game, Harbaugh declined to commit to a starter for Houston. By Wednesday he had made the call, telling reporters the team views McCarthy as its direction and believes he opens up more options for the offense. Winston, for his part, said publicly that his week had not changed and that he would support McCarthy while staying ready.

The loss dropped the Giants to 3-2-1, while the Saints snapped a three-game skid to reach 2-4.

Who McCarthy is now

New York acquired McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 28 for a 2027 fifth-round pick, a modest price for the No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 draft. At the time, Harbaugh said Winston would remain the starter, and McCarthy did not take a meaningful snap until Sunday.

The résumé is still thin and uneven. McCarthy missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury suffered in the 2024 preseason, then completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2025. CBS Sports puts his career totals at a 57.2 percent completion rate with 12 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions across 12 games, numbers that include Sunday's relief outing. The case for him rests on arm strength, mobility and the jolt he gave the offense against New Orleans, where he posted one of the best expected-points-added rates of any quarterback with at least 20 dropbacks in Week 6, per Yahoo Sports.

The case against him is accuracy and turnovers, and Sunday's comeback came against a defense protecting a three-score lead. Houston will present a full four quarters of a game plan built for him.

Fantasy fallout

The most important fantasy question is what McCarthy means for Malik Nabers. Rotoballer credited Nabers with 12 catches for 165 yards on 15 targets in the Saints game, his third straight outing with at least 112 receiving yards, and Nabers was already absorbing a heavy target share with Winston. McCarthy's willingness to push the ball downfield, shown by 243 yards on just 11 completions, supports Nabers' ceiling even if it adds some volatility to his floor. He remains a weekly starter in all formats.

For McCarthy himself, Week 7 is a difficult spot. He is a streaming option only in superflex and two-quarterback leagues, where his rushing gives him a floor that Winston lacked. In standard 12-team leagues he is a speculative bench add rather than a starter, and managers who need a quarterback this week with Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence all on bye have safer choices.

Isaiah Likely, the target on the final play Sunday, is worth monitoring in deeper leagues. A quarterback change often reshuffles secondary targets, and the tight end was clearly part of McCarthy's late-game reads.

Injuries on both sides

Wednesday's first practice report of the week was not kind to the Giants. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (shoulder), safety Jevón Holland (concussion) and both tackles, Andrew Thomas (groin) and Jermaine Eluemunor (calf), did not practice, according to the team's official report. If both tackles are limited or out on Sunday, McCarthy will make his first start of the season behind a patched line.

Houston has its own list. Safety Reed Blankenship (concussion/hand), safety Jalen Pitre (shoulder), running back David Montgomery (groin) and tight end Dalton Schultz (quad) did not practice Wednesday, while receiver Tank Dell (knee) was a full participant. DeMeco Ryans has called Montgomery week to week, which would again push Woody Marks into the lead role.

Betting angle

The market had already priced in a struggling Giants offense. Houston, 2-4 but winners of two straight after a 34-31 walk-off win over Jacksonville in London, is a big home favorite, with Covers and Sports Illustrated listing the Texans at 9.5 points and VegasInsider showing a consensus closer to 10.5. The total sits at 42.5 across the books checked.

A quarterback change of this kind rarely moves a spread more than a point on its own, since McCarthy's ceiling and floor are both wider than Winston's. The more useful lens is the total and the player props. McCarthy's rushing yardage line, once posted, is a natural place to look, and Nabers' receiving yardage will be shaped by how often New York is chasing points. Bettors of legal betting age in their jurisdiction should check the final injury designations for the Giants tackles before acting, since protection is the swing factor for a young quarterback on the road.

For Verdexed's full game-by-game outlook, see the Week 7 predictions at /nfl/predictions and the weekly picks at /blog/nfl-week-7-picks-2026.

What's next

The Giants will issue two more practice reports before Friday's final designations, and the status of Thomas and Eluemunor is the item to watch. Kickoff in Houston is set for 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX.

Beyond this week, Harbaugh's language suggests this is not a one-game audition. If McCarthy plays even competently against a strong Houston defense, the Giants have effectively chosen their quarterback for the rest of 2026, and Nabers managers can plan around a downfield passer for the stretch run. If he struggles, Winston remains one series away, and the Giants offense becomes one of the hardest in the league to project.