With the 58th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos select Montee Ball, star-senior RB of Wisconsin. Absolutely stunned to see Ball fall as far as he did for Denver to select him, but if you’ve got any sense at all, you’re ecstatic about this pick-up and here’s why.
Here’s a guy who currently holds numerous amounts of records. Ball has the NCAA Division 1-FBS record for most career rushing touchdowns with 77 in four seasons with the Badgers, and the NCAA Division 1 FBS record for most career total touchdowns with 83. He is also tied for the most total touchdowns in a season with 39 in 2011, and had the most consecutive games with two or more touchdowns in 2011 with 13.
Excited yet? No? After the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Ball was recognized as the best running back in the Big Ten Conference and was a first-team All-American. He won the Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year in both 2011 2012. In those two years alone combined, he totaled 55 touchdowns and 3,753 rushing yards.
Montee Ball brings consistency to the Broncos back-field, and Ball is more than pro-ready. With 356 carries in 2012, Ball had more carries than ANY NFL running back in 2012-13. That’s more than Arian Foster’s 351, and Adrian “All Day” Peterson’s 348. Ball also had 7 more touchdowns last season (Total: 22) than any running back in the NFL (Most – Arian Foster – 15). For a guy that’s 5-10, 214 pounds, you might worry about the pass-protection if Montee were to take the workload for the Broncos in 2013. Ball is solid in pass protection. He keeps his head on a swivel and always finds himself in great position to defend the QB.
As stellar as Montee Ball is on the field, there has to be that blemish somewhere, right? Possibly. Ball was assaulted in 2012 while walking on University Ave. in Madison. The attacks were reported as three black males that were reportedly unknown to Ball. Other than that, his “off-the-field” issues don’t stretch much farther.
Even though Eddie Lacy was still on the board for the Broncos and their fans’ pickins at 58th overall, the Broncos passed on Lacy to make Montee Ball the third RB taken overall ahead of Eddie Lacy. Lacy was taken just three picks later at 61st overall to the Packers.
With the addition of Montee Ball, no running back is safe for the Orange and Blue 2013-14 roster. Currently, the depth chart for the Broncos at running back consists of McGahee, Moreno, Hillman, and LANCE Ball. I’d say the only back safe from the cut list is Hillman who was just added in last year’s draft. We’ll have to see how that situation plays out.
Montee Ball is a great pick-up for the Denver Broncos. Many thought that Denver could go with DE Damontre Moore out of Texas A&M, but I personally really wanted the Broncos to address their need at running back. Call it a want if you please, but I’m a guy who still fully respects what a solid running back does for the passing game. And with the addition of Wes Welker to Peyton’s arsenal that already consisted of Erick Decker and Demaryius Thomas, I’d say that the addition of Montee Ball to the back-field through the draft is huge for the passing game, let alone what he can do as a possible feature-back.
Anthony’s Draft Grade: A-
The Broncos will still have to address the pass-rush with the loss of Dumervil, but the defensive depth is still there in the draft, and I’m not worried that Denver can fill that need.
Anthony Rodriguez
Anthony is the Founder, Administrator, Editor and Publisher of Lightning Rod Sports. Originally from California, Anthony has been raised in the Rocky Mountains and Denver area for most of his life. Anthony works with the Emmy-winning student-run T.V. newscast at MSU Denver, The Met Report, as the Assistant General Manager, formerly the Sports Producer, as well as Lead Anchor and Production Assistant. He is currently the Play-by-Play Announcer, Color Commentator, and Production Assistant for the Metro State Broadcast Network, and calls games for Metro State soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball as a “Voice of the Roadrunners.” In addition to that work with the Metro State Broadcast Network, Anthony also hosts the monthly 30-minute magazine show called "The Roadrunner Review" which airs on Altitude Sports and Entertainment. He hosts the bi-weekly "KMet Sports Show" on KMET Radio at MyMetMedia.com/KMETSportsShow. He is also the Founder, Administrator, Editor, and Columnist for his own Denver Sports website, LightningRodSports.com. Anthony is also part of the Social Media team at Examiner.com, and has worked with the Altitude Radio Network for the Avalanche and Nuggets. Anthony is a former Producer for Mile High Sports Radio, as well as a former Sports-Talk show host on the LightningRod Radio Network.
