Broncos OC Adam Gase on RB Montee Ball:
"We drafted him in the second round to be a big contributor... We do have a lot of confidence in him. He brings that full package of a good running back, running the ball and catching the ball out of the backfield and protecting."
When asked what kind of growth he saw in Ball over the course of the season, Gase said: "Big strides. I'd say he'd probably be the one guy that probably made the most improvement. And to see him make the next jump in his second year, we're looking forward to that."
Gase was asked about the competition for the RB2 spot: "I would say that everybody behind Montee is competing for that second spot. It's wide open."
Now that Knowshon Moreno (and the #5 fantasy RB in 2013) has signed with the Dolphins, it’s clear that Ball’s stock has taken a huge jump. Prior to the Moreno signing, Ball was being drafted in the 4th round due to the uncertainty of his situation. With Moreno out of the way, he’s starting to go in the late 1st/early 2nd. Ball had a higher YPC (4.7) than Moreno (4.3), but wasn’t quite the weapon in the passing game. Still, his catch percentage (receptions/targets = 74.1%) wasn’t bad for a running back. The only real question is whether or not his workload will suffer if his fumbling problem rears its ugly head. It looks like the team is committed to him, so we have him ranked as our #6 RB in standard formats. He's a nice pick at the end of the 1st round.
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