Peyton Manning is ready for a breakout year

The title says it all in a stupid way. Peyton Manning is ready for a breakout year, as if he hasn't had a number of "breakout" years. Still, Manning showed us last year that he's as good as ever, and in Denver, he has as many options as he's ever had. That's why this breakout year may be one of the biggest years for a quarterback ever.

Last year didn't set very high water marks for Manning's career, but it came close in a lot of respects. He threw for his second highest completion percentage, second most yards, second most touchdowns and second highest passer rating of his career. His career marks didn't come in the same season, either; the aforementioned marks were spread out over 2009, 2010, 2004 and 2004, respectively.

That being now known, it's possible that Manning could top a few, if not all four of those milestones in 2013. He has the receivers to make plays, he has a running game, something that rarely happened in Indianapolis, and most importantly, he has a defense that isn't predicated around the "bend but don't break" philosophy.

By all accounts, Peyton Manning is in better shape this year than he was a season ago. There's no lingering questions about whether his arm will hold up throughout the season or whether he can take a hit. The Broncos know exactly what they'll be getting from Manning.

The other factor to consider is how hot the Broncos were in the second half of 2012. It seemed as if Manning had a layer of rust that he worked off in the early weeks of the season. Then, it seemed like he was a solid quarterback, but certainly not the Peyton Manning we were all used to seeing on Sundays. Finally, in the second half of the season, we finally got a true taste of what Manning could accomplish in his post-injury career.

At 37 years old, it's hard to say how many seasons Peyton Manning has left in the tank. He doesn't take hits very often, and when he does, he's generally very good about protecting himself from being driven into the ground. The Broncos would love to get at least two, if not three, more seasons out of Manning, and with the team that he has around him, that could very possibly mean two or three Super Bowls as well. Peyton Manning is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and he could treat us to his best season yet this Fall.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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