Fantasy Football: Montee Ball Out, Who Steps Up in Denver?

Oct 5, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman (23) runs the ball during the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 41-20. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos are preparing for bad news in regards to the groin injury suffered by starting running back Montee Ball in Sunday’s week five win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Ball was finding yards hard to come by as things were, and an injury paved the way for Ronnie Hillman and Juwan Thompson to get some carries and reps in the Broncos’ offense. Unlike Ball, they answered the bell. Hillman had 15 carries for 64 yards, including a couple of eye-popping bursts through the line of scrimmage that had Broncos fans wondering if it was the same Hillman they’ve known the last three years.

Juwan Thompson, an undrafted free agent out of Duke and huge fan favorite, carried the ball three times for 15 yards and a touchdown, averaging five yards per carry.

Surprisingly, the Broncos deactivated running back C.J. Anderson, who has looked good in limited carries this year, due to the fact that he doesn’t play special teams. With a completely healthy roster going into yesterday’s game, the Broncos had to leave some talented players on the sidelines, and Anderson drew the short straw. Because of that, he’s now a really potentially underrated fantasy option, as are Hillman and Thompson, all of whom present differing levels of intrigue.

With Ball sidelined for presumably a significant length of time, it’s time to hit the waiver wire and find a Broncos back that is going to step up and give your fantasy football team some production. As of right now, the top back on the roster is Ronnie Hillman, who clearly earned a start in Denver’s week six game against the New York Jets. The Jets have a stout run defense, with the exception of this past week’s game against San Diego, and Hillman’s smaller size doesn’t necessarily bode well for him against a big, physical Rex Ryan defense in a road game.

Anderson is a gritty between the tackles runner with some good quickness and burst through the hole. Juwan Thompson really does everything well, including special teams, and is perhaps the Broncos’ most talented back overall, everybody just doesn’t know it yet.

If it were me, and in a variety of cases, it is, I would go first after Hillman to secure the Broncos’ top back on the depth chart, but I would also take a flier on Thompson, the only player who scored a touchdown for the Broncos yesterday that didn’t come off of a pass from Peyton Manning.

Thompson is big, physical, quick, and he knows how to get the ball in the end zone. If the Broncos are looking to close out a game running the ball, if they are looking for a back that can catch passes out of the backfield, Thompson is a guy who has earned the confidence of the coaching staff to play a variety of roles.

Step 1 — pick up Hillman if you can.

Step 2 — pick up Thompson AS WELL, and thank me later.