New York Giants News and Rumors: Emmanuel Acho Doubts JJ McCarthy, Malik Nabers Leads NFL in Receiving Yards
Updated: 13 minutes ago
Published Oct 23, 2026, 10:40 PM ET | By Vincent Rapisardi
Friday's Giants news centered on Sunday in Houston, where JJ McCarthy makes his first start for New York with a bold prediction from Emmanuel Acho hanging over it. Malik Nabers arrives on the best three-week run of any receiver in the NFL, and two new guides broke down the Giants' target share and the Week 7 fantasy starts. Here is every story Big Blue Film Room published on Oct. 23, 2026, most important first.
JJ McCarthy's first start for the Giants already has a loud prediction attached. Former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho said McCarthy will "stink it up" Sunday in Houston and lose the job quickly. His case, made on the "Speakeasy" show according to Pro Football Network, is about preparation: the Saints were not scouting a backup in Week 6, while the Texans get a full week to plan for McCarthy.
The counterpoint is the relief outing. McCarthy entered with the Giants down 34-10 and went 11 of 21 for 243 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Those 243 yards tied the most by a Giant in a single quarter since at least 1991, per Giants.com. Houston's defense is uneven: tied for third in the NFL with 18 sacks, but 26th against the pass at 246.0 yards per game. John Harbaugh has not said how long McCarthy's leash will be.
Malik Nabers has turned a quiet September into the best three-week run of any receiver in the NFL. The Giants' third-year star has 398 receiving yards since Week 4, the most in the league, per SleeperNFL, with the Rams' Puka Nacua second at 343. Nabers caught 12 passes for 96 yards over the first three games, then 29 for 398 as his targets jumped from 19 in Weeks 1-3 to 42 in Weeks 4-6.
He has topped 100 yards in three straight games, the seventh such run in Giants history, according to Giants.com, and was named FedEx Air Player of the Week after catching 12 passes for 165 yards against the Saints. Houston has noticed. Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said, "There's not any level of the route tree that's not open to him." The streak came with Jameis Winston at quarterback, so Sunday will show whether it carries over with McCarthy.
Big Blue Film Room also published a guide to how the Giants share the football, built on Pro Football Reference totals through Week 6. Nabers (61 targets, 29.6%) and tight end Isaiah Likely (59, 28.6%) lead the team's 206 targets by a wide margin. Likely leads the team with five receiving touchdowns, and Nabers leads with 494 yards. Rookie Malachi Fields is third with 25 targets and played 94% of the offensive snaps in Week 6, his highest share of the season.
The guide also tracks how three quarterbacks have shaped the targets. Under Winston, they narrowed: Nabers and Likely drew 33 of 52 targets at Washington. McCarthy led every quarterback in Week 6 in average depth of target, per PFF, and deeper throws tend to favor outside receivers. The numbers to watch are Likely's share, Fields' snaps and Cam Skattebo's 12 targets out of the backfield.
Big Blue Film Room's Week 7 list of seven must-start fantasy players includes one Giant: Nabers, at No. 7. The case is volume and matchup. He drew 35 targets over the last two games and holds a 29.6% share for the season, and Pro Football Reference ranks Houston 31st against receivers, allowing 26.5 standard points per game. The risk is context: New York's implied total is just 16 points, with Houston a 10.5-point favorite.
The other six picks are Jordan Love, Jahmyr Gibbs, Puka Nacua, Tucker Kraft, C.J. Stroud and Jaylen Warren. Three of them play in Packers at Lions, the week's highest total at 53.5. Stroud draws a Giants defense that ranks 26th against quarterbacks at 20.1 standard points per game. Nacua is questionable with a calf injury and will test it before kickoff, so check the Rams' inactives before locking in a lineup.
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