Breaking Down The Denver Broncos Backfield
By Andrew Dill
July 25, 2013; Englewood, CO, USA;Denver Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman (21) and running back Montee Ball (38) and running back Lance Ball (35) during training camp at the Broncos training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
This post comes from Justin Becker of FantasyFootballOverdose.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NFLRankings or the Fantasy Football Overdose Google+ Page, and for more 2014 Fantasy Football Rankings visit Fantasy Football Overdose, a fantasy football blog.
The Denver Broncos moved on from veteran running back Knowshon Moreno during free agency, setting up a completely new era in their offensive backfield. It’s a natural transition, though, as second-year running back Montee Ball is expected to take over the reigns after serving as a change of pace option as a rookie in 2013.
Peyton Manning has personally vouched for Ball as a legit feature back, while the Broncos have actually publicly vouched for Ball as the team’s top back as recently as this week.
If Manning and the Denver coaching staff can’t convince Broncos fans fantasy football owners that Ball is in for a huge role, perhaps Denver’s offseason moves at the position (or lack thereof) may do the trick. Despite losing Moreno and only having Ball to fall back on, the Broncos brought in zero free agent running backs, while zero of their six 2014 NFL Draft picks were a running back.
Still, for some reason there is some skepticism both surrounding whether or not the Broncos will truly move forward with Ball as their lead back, as well as whether or not he can actually handle it.
Ball is viewed as a superior overall talent than the departed Moreno, though, so logic suggests he would be just as productive – if not even more so – in the same role.
With that said, there are still some other bodies in the mix to a certain degree in Denver’s offensive backfield, while some fantasy owners still have their reservations about Ball’s potential in the offense.
To get a better grasp of Ball and the rest of Denver’s rushing attack, let’s break down all of their running backs and assess their fantasy value for the 2014 fantasy football season: