With the departure of last season's surprise star, Knowshon Moreno, the door is wide open for Montee Ball to claim what he believes to be his rightful place at the top of Denver's running back depth chart.
"I know for a fact they're not going to hand it to me, they're going to make sure we all get our opportunities throughout camp and throughout OTAs ... but it's going to be who's the most productive," Ball said. "But for me, my mentality is that it is my job."
If he can come into training camp and seize control of the position, Ball would make a great value selection in next year's fantasy drafts. Moreno was lightly regarded coming into last season. He ended shocking his owners, producing over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 13 TDs.
Ball started off last season slowly, losing 3 fumbles in his first 10 games, and failing to produce a TD until October 27th. He came on strong down the stretch, however, piling up 298 yards over the last 5 weeks of the season, despite sharing the load with Moreno and Ronnie Hillman. In some games, Denver's confidence in Moreno grew to the point Hillman did not receive any carries.
Ball has the backing of Peyton Manning, as the Pro Bowl QB has praised Ball's work ethic and “mental capabilities to handle the workload."
It is still possible that the Broncos could draft a RB in May, and Hillman is still on board, which could bite into Ball's opportunities. But those looking for a potential value selection later in their fantasy draft could do much worse than Ball. In Denver's high flying offense, with chunk yardage and TDs seemingly there for the taking, Montee Ball will be the lucky recipient and could potentially swing a few match-ups your way this fall.