Michigan Alum Rich: The Giants Should Start JJ McCarthy over Jameis Winston

The Jameis Winston experience is exactly that, an experience. Even Winston calls it one. And Rich thinks the New York Giants have now seen enough of it.

Rich laid out the ride. There will be times Winston throws it to the other team. There will be times he puts up 400 yards. There will be wins, and there will be moments when you're wondering why he's out there. And, yes, the experience also includes him singing Hamilton songs from the podium.

But the Giants also brought in JJ McCarthy for a reason, in case the experience went south. On Sunday they turned to him. His first throw was an interception.

"I'm like, you got to be kidding me," Rich said, "because obviously I am rooting for him in the biggest way." Rich made no secret of the bias. McCarthy, he said, "made me the happiest I have ever been as a Michigan fan," and he knows the kid is a champion and "a dog."

What came after that pick is the part that matters. McCarthy threw for 243 yards in the fourth quarter alone, the third most by a quarterback off the bench in a single quarter since at least 1978. He was throwing fastballs averaging almost 50 miles per hour. He was finding receivers, slinging it, and cutting it loose.

That last part struck a chord. Rich pointed out how often you hear coaches begging young quarterbacks like Bo Nix to just let it rip. McCarthy came in, threw one to the other team, and kept letting it rip anyway.

He nearly pulled it off, too. On the final play, Rich said, McCarthy looked for Isaiah Likely, who was "flat out interfered with," with three Saints draped on him. McCarthy also led the team in rushing, a fact the studio agreed was not a great sign for the Giants' run game.

McCarthy sounded at home afterward. "Just being able to run the whole show and make protection calls and, you know, be able to throw the ball a little bit," he said. "It was a lot of fun to just be out there with this group."

Rich's prescription for the Giants was simple. Start McCarthy. Put Cam Skattebo back in, tell him not to fumble, and let McCarthy find Malik Nabers. Rich noted the irony of the weekend, too: Tommy Carr and McCarthy nearly pulled off comebacks for Michigan and the Giants on the same weekend.

Then there's the Skattebo situation and John Harbaugh. Rich read the zero-touch Sunday as a lesson in ball security that Harbaugh isn't putting out in the press. Harbaugh's public message is basically, who wants to be the running back of the New York Giants and hold on to the football? Rich's view: one game is enough.

And he had a message for Giants fans who might be grumbling about Harbaugh's choices. If Brian Daboll, Pat Shurmur or Ben McAdoo had pulled a move like this, Rich asked, wouldn't you be flipping out? You would. With Harbaugh, he said, you have to let him do what he's doing.

The stakes are bigger than one quarterback battle. The NFC East is wide open. At 3-2-1, Rich argued, the Giants are better positioned than the 2-4 Cowboys and 2-4 Eagles, assuming the Commanders drop to 1-4-1 on Monday night. If Washington wins and gets to 2-3-1, then it's a jump ball. The Cowboys may still be favored because they still have their starting quarterback, but Rich isn't buying it. "I think the Giants have a shot for real," he said.

The catch? The next test for McCarthy is a reborn Houston Texans squad.