McCarthy Arrived Mid-Season. The Playbook Did Not Wait for Him.

J.J. McCarthy is the starter now, inherited from a season that already burned through Jaxson Dart's knee and whatever remained of the Russell Wilson experiment. The depth chart has him first, Jake Haener second — the same Haener the Giants signed in August as a depth piece, now the safety net for a quarterback learning an offense in real time. That is a thin margin for a team that went 4–13 a year ago.

The secondary situation has not quieted down either. I noted last week that the corner spot cycled through three bodies in five days during camp. The current depth chart lists Nic Jones and Jaden Robinson at cornerback, with Greg Newsome II active and Jason Pinnock carrying a Questionable tag. That is not a settled room. It is a room that has been reshuffled so many times this year that stability would itself be news.

The one thing working in the Giants' favor is the ground game. Tyrone Tracy is the lead back, with Cam Skattebo behind him — both capable of carrying a significant portion of the offensive load while McCarthy finds his footing. That was always the plan under John Harbaugh: build the identity around the run, protect the quarterback, limit the exposure. With a mid-season acquisition still absorbing the scheme, that plan matters more now than it did in August.

The next few weeks will tell a lot. McCarthy has weapons — Wan'Dale Robinson had over 1,000 receiving yards last season, and Malik Nabers is on the roster — but a quarterback learning on the fly behind a reshuffled offensive line, with a secondary still sorting itself out, is a fragile situation. The Giants have been here before. The question is whether anything has actually changed.