Despite recent speculation that JJ McCarthy might hold on to the New York Giants starting quarterback job if he plays well the rest of the season, an NFL insider explained this week why he would need a Herculean effort to unseat Jaxson Dart as the QB1 in 2027.

There will be a lot of eyeballs on the Giants’ Week 7 matchup against the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon. The game is very important for the 2-4 Texans as they look to dig their way out of a 0-4 start, and McCarthy will make his debut as New York’s starting QB.

In Gotham, there is a lot of intrigue around the player they traded a fifth-round pick for a few weeks ago. After Jameis Winston was ineffective as the starter following Dart’s season-ending injury in Week 2, the former first-round pick who flared out in Minnesota will get another opportunity to prove he can be a star in the NFL like he was in college for Michigan.

Clearly, he has talent, and that is why he was the 10th overall pick two years ago. He showcased it on Sunday when he nearly rallied the Giants from a 24-point deficit against the New Orleans Saints in one quarter. However, he is also the player who couldn’t hold on to the Vikings QB1 job and was beaten out by Carson Wentz for the backup job this summer.

New York Giants insider shuts down idea of Jaxson Dart losing his starting job to JJ McCarthy

If the Giants can somehow get McCarthy to play up to his potential, it creates an interesting situation. Dart was their QB1 to start the season, and the team used a first-round pick on his last year. However, back-to-back seasons with trouble staying on the field have some around the team unsure if he really can be a long-term fit at the position. Many are wondering if McCarthy could usurp the role away from Dart with his play over the next 11 weeks.

Well, according to SNY’s Connor Hughes, McCarthy would need to play like one of the 10 best QBs in the NFL to make the Giants actually consider him as their starter, instead of Dart, for next season.

In a mailbag column on Thursday, the NFL insider was asked about the possibility of Dart losing his job. In response, he quickly shut down the idea when he wrote, “He is the starting quarterback for New York. The Giants plan for him to be their starting quarterback for the next decade-plus. They love the player. They love the person more. Top to bottom, they believe in him.”

However, Hughes did humor the idea of what McCarthy would need to do to remain the team’s QB1 next year, and the reporter suggested he would need to produce some magical results.

“Example: Play like a top-10 quarterback in the NFL during that stretch. Lead the Giants to double-digit victories. Secure the NFC East. Then, in my opinion, get the Giants to (at least) the NFC Championship, or at the minimum, not be the reason they lose in the divisional round,” Hughes wrote. “… The likelihood of any of that happening is slim.”