Hour 1: Schlittler Gets the Call

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The playoffs are set in baseball. But we start off today for the Big Blue Report brought to you by Kings Hawaiian. And while Chris Carlin was on with his show, the news was broken that the Giants have acquired JJ. McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings. McCarthy, a former 10th pick in the first round in 2024, was acquired for a 5th round pick. So it shows you how far he has indeed fallen. And you know that the Giants did their due diligence on this because John Harbaugh is related to Jim Harbaugh, who is the coach of the Chargers, but was the coach of JJ. McCarthy when they were both at Michigan. So he has the intel how McCarthy would fit into the situation here. Listen, I've never, ever been a huge JJ. McCarthy fan. I didn't like the way he played at Michigan. I don't think he made big throws. I think he relied a lot on the running game. And I think that it's going to be here with the Giants as well. This doesn't mean that McCarthy just comes in and takes the job from Jameis Winston. No, I think they give Jameis Winston a little more slack, but you need a fairly reliable backup quarterback. And this guy does have the bonafides, at least from college. Again, you got a 10th pick in the first round, a 10th pick in the first round for a fifth round pick in the 20-27 draft. That's pretty decent value if the guy could help just a little. Now, the Giants probably made this move because they don't like what they've seen of Jameis Winston. But even if they like what they saw of Jameis Winston, even if they like that, you still have to make this deal. You need a legitimate backup quarterback. So what we've seen from Jameis Winston, after Jackson Dart got hurt, he did not play well at all in that game against the Rams. Looked terrible. Now, I just explained that away. Didn't get any first team reps. The offense is not built around his skill set. This offense yesterday built around his skill set. He didn't make any mistakes, but they didn't have him do anything. Maybe they didn't think he could do anything. And it's hard to judge. I love when people are jumping on Jameis Winston and judging that he cannot play. Did you see the conditions yesterday at MetLife Stadium? Did you see him? With the wind and the rain, do you want the guy throwing the ball around? Makes no sense. So the Giants won the game 12-7, almost gave it away, but I am not going to sit back and go, this guy can't guide the Giants to a decent year.

I'm not saying a playoff year, a decent year because of what I've seen against the Rams, I have an explanation for that. And what I saw against the Titans, I have an explanation for that as well. Four field goals in the game, and that was all they needed. And now they play the Cardinals next week, so you could look up and the Giants could be 3-1. But there's a lot of things that have gone wrong for the Giants, and really give you a lot of concern. In a period of two weeks, they have lost to two most important people on offense and defense. So Jackson Dart last week, and now Brian Burns this week. Brian Burns, torn ACL, he's going to be out for the remainder of the year. That's a huge blow. This guy is such a big part of what the Giants do. They had such a magnificent season last year. I think he had 16 and a half sacks. I mean, he is the heart and soul of that defense. So let's see how the Giants respond. Injuries are part of the NFL. But I hate when people say next guy up. Well, the next guy up is not always as good. It's never as good as the guy who went down. Jameis Winston doesn't have the ceiling of a Jackson Dart. And whoever they fill in for Brian Burns does not have the ceiling of Brian Burns, not going to come in and get 16 and a half sacks, because the bottom line is, if they were good enough, if they were good enough, you know what? They would have been playing more.