Denver Broncos: The Fall Of Montee Ball

Normally when a player’s fall from grace is discussed there has to be a professional rise to begin with. With third-year Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball there wasn’t one — nor does it appear there ever will be to the trained eye.

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That said, Ball was one of the best NCAA running backs in college history and still holds the records for most touchdowns in a season in 2011 with 39, and over a college career (83).

Most people would have been considered out of their mind if they didn’t believe he would make a serious contribution in the NFL.

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Call me crazy, but I never believed he would be a legitimate starter in the NFL, and the reasoning for that is very simple.

There’s only two types of running backs at the pro level if you truly break it down: guys that make people miss, and guys that can’t. Ball falls into the latter category and quite simply, took too much punishment at the college level before ever stepping foot on an NFL field.

Ball wore the tread on the tires completely bald in toting the ball over 300 times his junior and senior year while consistently taking punishment. Further, in this year’s training camp and practices he demonstrated — once again — an inability to make guys miss, lack of vision and explosion.

These facts make it a bit of a surprise that the Broncos have hung on to the third-year plodder as teams have cut their rosters down to the obligatory final 53 men today.

However, one must assume that the team is holding out hopes that they can get some sort of value for him in a trade. If I’m John Elway and the front office, I wouldn’t hold my breath for anything more than a fifth-to-seventh round pick: if that.

Will Reeve is a contributing writer to NFL Spin Zone, you can follow him on Twitter @WillReeveJr or connect with him on Facebook here.

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