Is it Time For Montee Ball To Get More Carries? The Numbers Say Yes

[BSN Denver]

By Colin Welsh

We cannot deny that Knowshon Moreno has been great this year out of the backfield. This has been a little bit of a surprise since last year Moreno was inactive for most of the first half of the season after fumbling in a game. He played only a total of 345 snaps, and had 138 rushing attempts for 525 yards and four touchdowns in 2012. This year he has played 567 snaps already, and has more than 200 attempts for 842 yards and nine touchdowns.

Moreno’s success has come as sort of a shock to the fans. With a lot of hype in training camp surrounding Hillman, and rookie running back, Montee Ball, some questioned whether Moreno would make the team.

Coach John Fox told the media before the season it would be a running back by committee. With the first depth chart of the season released Moreno was listed as the third back, Ball the second, and Hillman as the starter. When week one came around everyone was a little bit shocked when Moreno came out of the tunnel as they announced the starting offense. He has been the starter since then and looked very good.

Fans are still worried on whether or not the team will find a secure number two behind Moreno. They tried Hillman to start the season, but he had some very costly fumbles that have led to him being inactive over the past few weeks. Fans got excited when rookie CJ Anderson was activated, but he saw very little time. Now it’s back to rookie back Montee Ball.

Last week against the Chiefs we finally saw why the Broncos took Montee Ball with their second pick. He carried the ball 13 times for 117 yards on Sunday, an average of nine yards per carry. 73 of his 117 yards came after contact. He had two carries of over 25 yards, and a Broncos season high long 45 yard rush.

Montee Ball is clearly the most explosive back on the team and it has shown. He averages 2.4 yards after contact while Knowshon averages only 1.9. Moreno has caused 14 missed tackles this year, Ball has the same amount, but in less than half the carries. Montee Ball has four rushes this year of more than 15 yards, and Moreno has nine, once again on more than double the carries. Ball has a breakaway percentage of 27.4 percent and Moreno only 19.6, a breakaway is any run longer than 15 yards....CONTINUE READING (http://www.brandonspano.com/headlines.html?entry=is-it-time-for-montee)

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Second half of the season, sounds about right-

[Joel]

Someone must share the load with Moreno, and Ball's been more productive than Hillman, who fumbles as much and neither catches nor picks up blitzes any better. Until/unless we clinch the #1 seed, the question's not "should Ball run more?" but "who relieves Moreno?" Ball looks at least as good an answer as anyone else atm. Let's see how he does against a decent run D Sunday.

[Dzone]

How's Ball coming along as a pass blocker? I can recall early on he was getting his ass kicked...You would think he has gotten a lot better at it by now

[SR]

How's Ball coming along as a pass blocker? I can recall early on he was getting his ass kicked...You would think he has gotten a lot better at it by now

He was pretty good at it in college.

[Hawgdriver]

Best case, Hillman squashes the fumble bug, Ball becomes boss in blitz pickup, and Moreno is amped and healthy as ever, ready for some Rio 2016 triple jump action.

[Joel]

How's Ball coming along as a pass blocker? I can recall early on he was getting his ass kicked...You would think he has gotten a lot better at it by now
Good question whose answer I wish I knew, 'cause I couldn't really tell the last three games. That's usually one of the hardest things for rookies to get at the pro level, but I'm optimistic if only because he reportedly idolized Terrell Davis growing up and was thrilled to meet his hero after being drafted by us; Davis said he told Ball the best advice he had on how to get the starting job was to learn to practice blocking constantly until he's so good at it the coaches leave him on the field all the time.

I'd very much like to know if he's better than three months ago, but he's a backup and from what I've been able to see he's usually in to run, not pass block, so I can't tell. Maybe one someone with NFL Rewind and access to coaches tapes can help us out here?

[tripp]

I'm telling you right now you can't let Knowshon Moreno take a back seat to Montee Ball mid season. That is something you do in the off-season. Period. We're talking about killing a guys confidence to someone who had one great game. Moreno is the steady shoulder Manning can rely on, the team can rely on, the fans can rely on. Montee Ball contributed to one of the many crucial turn overs we forked over to New England. How quickly we forget. You ride the Moreno wave till it dies out (if ever).

[Captain Speardog]

By Colin Welsh

We cannot deny that Knowshon Moreno has been great this year out of the backfield. This has been a little bit of a surprise since last year Moreno was inactive for most of the first half of the season after fumbling in a game. He played only a total of 345 snaps, and had 138 rushing attempts for 525 yards and four touchdowns in 2012. This year he has played 567 snaps already, and has more than 200 attempts for 842 yards and nine touchdowns.

Moreno’s success has come as sort of a shock to the fans. With a lot of hype in training camp surrounding Hillman, and rookie running back, Montee Ball, some questioned whether Moreno would make the team.

Coach John Fox told the media before the season it would be a running back by committee. With the first depth chart of the season released Moreno was listed as the third back, Ball the second, and Hillman as the starter. When week one came around everyone was a little bit shocked when Moreno came out of the tunnel as they announced the starting offense. He has been the starter since then and looked very good.

Fans are still worried on whether or not the team will find a secure number two behind Moreno. They tried Hillman to start the season, but he had some very costly fumbles that have led to him being inactive over the past few weeks. Fans got excited when rookie CJ Anderson was activated, but he saw very little time. Now it’s back to rookie back Montee Ball.

Last week against the Chiefs we finally saw why the Broncos took Montee Ball with their second pick. He carried the ball 13 times for 117 yards on Sunday, an average of nine yards per carry. 73 of his 117 yards came after contact. He had two carries of over 25 yards, and a Broncos season high long 45 yard rush.

Montee Ball is clearly the most explosive back on the team and it has shown. He averages 2.4 yards after contact while Knowshon averages only 1.9. Moreno has caused 14 missed tackles this year, Ball has the same amount, but in less than half the carries. Montee Ball has four rushes this year of more than 15 yards, and Moreno has nine, once again on more than double the carries. Ball has a breakaway percentage of 27.4 percent and Moreno only 19.6, a breakaway is any run longer than 15 yards....CONTINUE READING (http://www.brandonspano.com/headlines.html?entry=is-it-time-for-montee)

I pretty much agree with all that. I think Moreno has been overworked. He is very valuable to Denver and he needs to be given less of a workload the next 4 weeks so he is fresh and healthy in the playoffs. Ball has fresh legs and it shows. When the playoffs roll around hopefully all of Denver's backs will be ready to go.

[Captain Speardog]

I'm telling you right now you can't let Knowshon Moreno take a back seat to Montee Ball mid season. That is something you do in the off-season. Period. We're talking about killing a guys confidence to someone who had one great game. Moreno is the steady shoulder Manning can rely on, the team can rely on, the fans can rely on. Montee Ball contributed to one of the many crucial turn overs we forked over to New England. How quickly we forget. You ride the Moreno wave till it dies out (if ever).

I think you still start Moreno, just tell him that you are going to limit his carries to get him fully rested and healthy. You also tell the media this. That way Moreno's ego would only be bolstered as he knows Denver needs him in the playoffs, which they do of course.

[tripp]

I think you still start Moreno, just tell him that you are going to limit his carries to get him fully rested and healthy. You also tell the media this. That way Moreno's ego would only be bolstered as he knows Denver needs him in the playoffs, which they do of course.

All I'm for that and I think that is actually what you should be doing right now regardless of whether the coaches have a hidden agenda (such as wanting Ball to become the eventual starter) or not. Moreno is playing with too much emotion and confidence which helps not just him, but the players around him. This guy went from ugly duck to a swan this season.

[Joel]

As long as he's healthy, Moreno's the starter unless/until Ball consisently picks up the blitz in games and goes >1 week without giving away the ball. The coaches won't risk the season, much less the FRANCHISE, just because a few thousand fans bought a second round rookies jersey a few months ago. The question's who's #2 and whether he should start getting more carries to reduce the burden on Moreno, prove himself and do some damage of his own. The answers are "Ball, atm" and "yes."

Honestly, the reasons fans find to love/hate certain players on their team never ceases to amaze me. Ball should just thank heaven he wasn't drafted a round sooner or most of the people screaming him for that past three months would've been screaming he's a bust. :lol: