Manningham’s problems were never on the field

Based on football ability alone, Mario Manningham is probably a first-round talent. Good speed on the outside. Terrific athleticism. Exceptional production in a big-time college program.

If only it were only that easy to judge the kid.

In Manningham’s case, his problems were never on the field, where he produced a combined 27 touchdowns and had a 1,174-yard season last year at Michigan.

It’s the baggage off it that caused him to plummet to the third round, where the New York Giants took a calculated risk that Manningham will be this year’s version of Ahmad Bradshaw. Giants general manager Jerry Reese gambled that Bradshaw, despite two arrests in college, would be worth it as a seventh-round pick. Turns out Bradshaw far exceeded anyone’s expectations, adding speed and quickness to the backfield late in the season. Behavior was never an issue.

But the stakes are far higher in Manningham’s case. The investment of a third-round pick is serious business, and if he flops, it will be far more costly. This is no throwaway pick in the seventh round.

Reese believes Manningham’s previous missteps can be chalked up mostly to immaturity, and that he can turn things around over time. But as we’ve seen with so many others over the years, there is no guarantee in these situations. The Giants can do all the believing they want, and can investigate as deeply as they’re able. But if Manningham himself doesn’t clean up his act, then this will have been a wasted pick.

“We did our homework on him,” Reese said. “Our coaches spent a lot of time with him. We interviewed him at the combine. We did our homework on him. We think he will be OK.”

We’ll see. The young man has a lot to prove.

Almost exactly a year ago, Manningham was arrested along with two others after police in southern Monroe County, Mich., pulled over a Cadillac registered to Manningham’s father. A sheriff’s deputy found 500-milligram tablets of Vicodin, a prescription painkiller, in Manningham’s pockets and additional pills in a suitcase in the trunk. Police also found a small amount of marijuana on Manningham’s friends. Last October, prosecutor William Nichols said he had decided no warrant for Manningham would be issued, and that he would not be charged for felony possession of the pills.

There’s more.

After initially denying he had ever used marijuana during interviews at the scouting combine, Manningham later admitted he tested positive for the drug twice while at Michigan. He then wrote a letter to all 32 NFL teams.

“I don’t use marijuana anymore, and I have passed tests since,” Manningham wrote. “I know what is at stake for me and my career. I am learning what it is going to take to be a professional. I am writing this letter because I just want a fair evaluation, and I want to be accountable for my actions. I am willing to be re-interviewed, re-tested and to undergo any evaluation any team wants me to undergo.”

Manningham also wrote that he “wasn’t straightforward” during the interviews at the combine and had failed two drug tests at Michigan. He said he was “nervous and scared.”

Manningham also scored a 6 on the Wonderlic intelligence test given to players at the combine. That is an extraordinarily low test score; 50 is the highest score.

Still not enough to scare away the Giants when they selected in the third round Sunday.

“He convinced me, he convinced our coaches — and it’s well documented — that he made a couple of mistakes,” Reese said.

If this turns out to be a guy who made mistakes and makes an honest attempt to turn his life around, then the Giants will have gotten themselves a bargain at this spot in the draft.

But if Manningham finds trouble again, then he will have thrown away the biggest opportunity of his young life.

“The past is the past,” Manningham said. “It happened and you can’t take back what happened. I am just going to come in here with a clean head and do what I have to do to come in there and play and make my team better.”

Worth the risk? Reese thinks so. Now it’s up to Manningham to make the gamble pay off.

XBob Glauber is a columnist for Newsday.