Manny Ramirez Is Peyton Manning’s Right Hand Man

Manny Ramirez (66) during the third quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

The Denver Broncos have the second highest point total (572) in NFL history for a single season. They have tallied at least 40 points in a team record six games, with three of those contests topping 50 points. They are the first team in league history to have at least five players score at least 10 touchdowns from scrimmage.

Of course Peyton Manning makes this all run flawlessly, but someone has to get Manning the ball on each and every snap.

That guy is none other than seventh-year offensive guard turned center Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez is Manning’s right hand man in terms of running the complicated and fast-paced offense, and according to Manning, he’s done one heck of a job.

“Manny has been awesome,” Manning said Wednesday afternoon. “That is no easy task to go from guard to center, especially in a sophisticated, fast-moving, always-changing offense. I think it’d be one thing if you knew what play was going to be called and you had 40 seconds to process it, but we’ll call one play and change it to the next with five seconds on the play clock. When we change a play Manny has to make his own calls and he’s just gotten better each week. I know he’s played through a lot of injuries, which speaks to his toughness. He’s one of strongest guys on the team. It’s very impressive. I’m not sure people in this building understand with the sophistication of our offense just how difficult his job is. He’s just been outstanding.”

This is coming from a guy who had not played a full season at center since his junior year in high school.

There have been a few hiccups in the exchanges between Ramirez and Manning, but the Broncos couldn’t be happier with their guy this year. That’s why they released J.D. Walton, who started every game in his first couple of seasons, but then broke his ankle and missed the rest of his third season.

Ramirez was battling with Walton, Dan Koppen, Ryan Lilja, and Steve Vallos in training camp for first-string rights. He won out and now he’s part of a unit that is allowing the fewest sacks in the league, and they are even doing it without starting left tackle Ryan Clady.

So it’s fair to say that a Super Bowl runs through Ramirez first and Manning second if we’re getting technical that is.

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