When Mario Manningham walked into the Giants' facility yesterday and rejoined his former team, he knew his way around.
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But when players report in almost a month for strength and conditioning and the facility begins to buzz again, the names and faces won't be as familiar. From coaching changes on his side of the ball to fellow receivers in his meeting room, Manningham will come back to a team that he recognizes but does not fully know.
To bring Manningham back up to speed after his two-season detour through San Francisco, Giants.com looks at how the landscape morphed between the time of his departure after the 2011 season and his recent return:
1. Seventeen members of the Super Bowl XLVI team are currently on the Giants' roster.Including Manningham, they are: QB Eli Manning, FB Henry Hynoski, WR Victor Cruz, WR Jerrel Jernigan, OL James Brewer, G Chris Snee, DE Jason Pierre-Paul, LB Mark Herzlich, DE Mathias Kiwanuka, LB Spencer Paysinger, LB Jacquian Williams, CB Prince Amukamara, S Antrel Rolle, LS Zak DeOssie, P Steve Weatherford, and OT Will Beatty.
2. Ben McAdoo is the new offensive coordinator.From the time the Giants selected Manningham in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft through his final season in 2011, Kevin Gilbride was his offensive coordinator. However, Gilbride retired at the beginning of the calendar year, and the Giants hired former Packers quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo to take over. While Manningham -- and the rest of the offense -- learns a new system, he will be reunited with wide receivers coach Sean Ryan, who coached the position from 2010-2011. Entering his eighth overall season on the Giants' staff, Ryan spent 2012 and 2013 as the quarterbacks coach before being reassigned to wide receivers.
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- Hakeem Nicks is gone.** The wide receiver signed with the Indianapolis Colts late in the first week of free agency, breaking up a chance to get the trio back together. Nicks, Victor Cruz, and Manningham together made up one of the best receiving corps in the NFL during their 2011 postseason run. Now the current group includes new names like Trindon Holliday and Rueben Randle, whom the Giants drafted with a second-round pick in 2012.
4. The passing attack is trying to get back to the 2011 level. Quarterback Eli Manning statistically had his best season in Manningham's final year with the Giants, passing for 4,933 yards, 29 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and a rating of 92.9. Since then, Manning has posted a completion percentage under 60 percent over the last two seasons, throwing 44 touchdowns to 42 interceptions.
5. The Giants have not been back to the playoffs since Manningham's heroics in Super Bowl XLVI (nor has any NFC East team won a postseason game in that span). A year after 9-7 won the division and sparked their Super Bowl run, the same record left them out of the postseason in 2012. The Giants have gone 16-16 over the past two years while Manningham played for the 49ers, posting a 7-9 record in 2013 for Tom Coughlin's first losing season since 2004.
