Montee Ball Atop RB Depth Chart for the Denver Broncos

Jan 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball (28) rushes the ball in the second half against the New England Patriots during the 2013 AFC championship playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

I’m sure that many of you Broncoholics know that second year running back, Montee Ball grew up in Missouri a big fan of Terrell Davis and the Denver Broncos. So when he was selected 58th over all in the 2013 NFL Draft by his favorite team, he was, needless to say, ecstatic.

"“I can remember when I was seven years old and I wanted to play football…and I wanted to play for the Broncos so it (being drafted by Denver) was pretty emotional for me because it was my favorite football team.”, said Ball in an interview days after he was drafted."

Montee’s dream continued to get better as he was an important contributor to the most prolific offense in NFL history. To make matters even sweeter, his number was called for the most important carry of the season; an eight yard run which salted away the AFC Championship. Lastly, going to the Super Bowl in his rookie year, despite the result, was still a pretty good culmination of his first pro season.

While he is hoping for this magic ride to continue, business is about to pick up. On today’s Fan Morning Show on FM 104.3 KKFN in Denver, Mike Evans, Nate Lundy, and Vic Lombardi were discussing the first day of training camp and picked up on a couple of things that might indicate that Montee Ball appears to be the #1 running back on the depth chart; something that was likely, but still in question with the departure of Knowshon Moreno to Miami.

There was one instance during QB snap drills, involving all four QBs on the roster, that Peyton Manning purposely had Ball standing right behind them as to get accustomed to the cadences and Rhythm. You’re probably thinking that is not really a big deal. What is a big deal is that he was the ONLY running back Manning included in the drill.

Another indication that Ball is at the top of the RB totem pole is that PFM kept pointing out to him during drills the nuances of certain defensive looks and most specifically, what to look for as it pertains to blocking assignments. And let’s face it, in this offense, blocking may just be the most important duty of the RB position.

So it appears that even though today is only day two of camp, the starting RB spot is Montee’s to lose. He’d just better hope he doesn’t drop the ball. (Yes…pun intended).