The Denver Broncos released running back Montee Ball on Sunday. Ball survived previous cuts and thought he was on the 53-man roster. According to ESPN, General Manager John Elway said on Saturday, “We still think that Montee, hopefully, can continue to improve. He was in the top 53 in our minds, so that’s why Montee’s here, and we still have high expectations for Montee.” The Broncos had a change of heart. Is this the right move for the Denver Broncos?
Ball was one of the best running backs in college. He holds the record for the most rushing touchdowns in a college career at the Division One level, rushing for 77 while at Wisconsin. Most football experts projected that he would be a first-round or second-round pick. The Denver Broncos selected him in the second-round, 58th overall in the 2013 draft.
In his first year he appeared in 16 games, rushing for 559 yards and 4 touchdowns. Those are not bad numbers for a rookie running back. The problem was he couldn’t hold onto the football, fumbling twice.
Last year, Denver was hoping Ball would take an even bigger step and be the starting running back. In week five, he suffered a groin injury that limited him to only five games where he rushed for 172 yards and 1 touchdown. His absence allowed C.J. Anderson to become the number one running back in Denver.
This season, Ball entered training camp as the number two running back behind Anderson. That didn’t last long. Ronnie Hillman was impressive in preseason games running for a total of 155 yards on 21 rushing attempts, an average of 7.4 yards per rush. Ball didn’t seem to get anything going in the preseason with only 68 yards rushing on 32 carries. In the last preseason game he was hoping to impress the coaching staff but he failed to with only 27 rushing yards.
Ball slipped all the way to fourth on the Broncos’ depth chart. Denver was looking to trade him to at least get a draft pick back. Denver couldn’t find a trading partner and was forced to cut Ball. This isn’t a surprising move. Ball had an uphill battle to even make the 53-man roster. Ronnie Hillman and Juwan Thompson played better in practice and preseason games. Denver had to cut him. He failed to be productive in his two seasons with the Broncos. The Broncos needed a fresh start without him.
Ball will have a chance to play in the NFL again. It might be a few weeks before he receives a call from an NFL team. Once injuries start to occur to running backs in the NFL, Ball will be in the backfield for a team.
What do you think of Denver cutting Montee Ball? Where will he end up?
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