Miami Dolphins: Projecting Player Stats with Peyton Manning Under Center

There are many people that probably looked at the headline and said something like, “Great, another Peyton Manning article.”

Most of us have now been informed that Manning has been released by the Indianapolis Colts and will most likely be looking for somewhere to play next season.

We have also read many articles and have our own opinions on where No. 18 would be best suited.

Instead of repeating what millions are saying, I am going to assume that Peyton Manning is 100 percent healthy and will become a Miami Dolphin.

The next few slides will project the 2012 statistics for Peyton Manning and some of the other key players on Miami’s offense.

Peyton Manning

Healthy or not, in Miami, Peyton Manning will not be throwing close to 700 passes like he did in 2010 with the Indianapolis Colts. Instead, he'll likely be more in the range of 500-600 passes.

In 2012, the Dolphins play the second-worst pass defense in the league (the Patriots) twice, along with the Buffalo Bills—who had the 19th-best pass defense in the league—twice and the 27th-ranked Oakland Raiders.

I do not expect Manning to go for over 5,000 like Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford did this past year; however, I could still see him hitting the 4,000-yard plateau for the sixth consecutive season.

Final Numbers: 15 games played, 4,300 yards, 67 percent completion, 35 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.  

Reggie Bush

Reggie Bush had a solid year for Miami in 2011, surpassing the 1,000 marker on just over 200 carries. He made it clear last offseason that he wanted to increase his role and turn into an every-down back, and when given the chance, he gave South Beach something to cheer about.

Bush proved this year that he is capable of getting close to 15 carries a game; however, with Peyton under center and three other decent backs on the roster, I do not see him getting over 200 carries again in 2012.

Final Numbers: 16 games played with 175 carries for 805 yards, a 4.6 yards-per-carry average and seven touchdowns.

Brandon Marshall

After another solid performance in 2011, Brandon Marshall has now had over 1,000 yards receiving in each of the past five seasons to go along with 475 catches in that time frame.

What is great about this is that he has done it with guys like Matt Moore, Chad Henne and Kyle Orton throwing him the ball.

Now, that is not a knock on them by any means. All I am saying is if he can put up those numbers with middle-of-the-pack quarterbacks throwing him the ball, then what is it going to be like when he has an elite quarterback?

Final Numbers: 16 games played with 90 catches for 1,350 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Davone Bess

The numbers that Davone Bess has put up in his career are nothing spectacular. With that being said, I believe that with a quarterback like Peyton Manning under center, Bess will have a great couple of years.

He is one of the most underrated slot receivers in the league and with a lot of defensive attention focused on Brandon Marshall and potentially Reggie Wayne, Manning will be able to effectively use Bess, and I could see him turning into Miami's version of Wes Welker.

Final Numbers: 15 games played with 80 catches for 880 yards and nine touchdowns.