Advanced Stats: Revisiting Mario Manningham’s Giant 2010

Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham planted the seeds of promise during an impressive sophomore campaign way back in 2009. However, it was in 2010 that he emerged as a legitimate outside threat, generating top of the league WR production in both the “explosiveness” and consistency departments. Succinctly put: Manningham blew the top off opposing defenses all season, and he was immensely efficient in doing so. Think I’m overstating the point? Let these advanced stats from Pro Football Focus delineate just how good Super Mario was in ’10:

Economy of Target

• 116.6 WR Rating, or QB Rating on Manningham targets (3rd in NFL)
• 69.8% of targets resulted in a reception (12th)
• 4.76% drop rate, three dropped passes  (5th)
• TD reception per 9.5 targets, nine total (11th)
• 343 yards after catch (13th)

Credit: NFL Game Rewind (December 19th, 2010)

Vertical Threat

• 15.7 yards per reception (19th)
• 2.27 yards per pass route run (8th)
• 12 receptions on 23 deep targets of twenty+ yards, 52.2% catch rate (2nd)
• only 12 deep targets were CATCHABLE, resulting in six touchdowns (T-3rd)
• 92-yard TD reception in week 17 (longest) and 85-yard TD in week 16 (7th)

Credit: NFL Game Rewind (January 2nd, 2011)

Gentle reminder — the moving pictures seen above highlight the wheels of a 24-year old Super Mario. The Mario Manningham competing for a roster spot with the Giants in 2014 is 28-years old with a surgically repaired ACL and PCL in his left knee.

Signed to a one-year $795,000 deal in March, a spot for Manningham on the 53-man roster is anything but guaranteed. Vowing not to return to the field in haste as he did with San Francisco, Manningham was limited to side work during Organized Team Activities; still in recovery from an injury sustained on December 23rd, 2012. He caught nine passes in six games last season before getting shut down.

Attempting to project which version of Mario Manningham takes the field come training camp would be conjecture at its finest… but I’ll venture a guess of 3/10 on the Super Mario life meter.