It took Reggie Wayne four years to arrive. For a while, it looked as though the Colts’ 2001 first-round pick might be a bust. He caught just 76 passes in his first two seasons combined, in part because in those years the Colts were throwing more to their backs and tight ends. But in 2004, Wayne emerged as the team’s home run threat with 12 touchdowns, and for five seasons he and Marvin Harrison made up the league’s most dangerous receiving duo.

When Harrison left the game prior to the 2009 season, many predicted Wayne would experience a drop-off in production; he didn’t. When Peyton Manning was forced to sit out the 2011 season with an injury, many said Wayne would not be the same player, but he held up fine. The slow-to-arrive wideout has put together very strong numbers for his career, and this season might be his best to date. Because he has been consistent for more than a decade now his biggest supporters are setting him up for a run at Canton. Here is his résumé stacks up …

Statistics: Counting this year, Wayne has eight 1,000-yard seasons and should reach the 13,000-yard mark this weekend. He is 44 catches shy of reaching 1,000; at present, there are only eight members in that club, although only one (Jerry Rice) is in the Hall of Fame. Wayne set a single-game best for receiving in 2012 with a 212-yard game against the Packers and could become the first player to reach 200 targets in a season (statisticians began tracking targets in 2006).