I question our draft evaluation of RB's

[ORANGE*OBSESSION]

I realize it's only been one year, and I'm really pulling for Ronnie Hillman, and especially Montee Ball, but I really question our FO's ability to draft effective RB's.

I was not a fan of the Hillman pick when it was made. Instead, there were three other running backs who I thought highly of that we passed up.....Lamar Miller, Bernard Pierce, and Robert Turbin. In my opinion, all three had the size and speed to be more of a featured back, as opposed to the scat-back role I see Hillman fitting. Their rookie statistics tend to bore that out.

Miller had 51 rushes for 250 yards. That's a 4.9 YPC. Turbin had 354 yards on 80 carries for a 4.4 YPC. Pierce had 108 carries for 532 yards, which comes to a 4.9 YPC. Hillman had 85 carries for 330 yards for only 3.9 YPC. All three are bigger than Hillman, and two of them are faster as well. What did we see that was so special in Hillman?

I hope our evaluation of Montee Ball is not in the same vain.

[InElwayWeTrust]

Montee Ball is a beast. I am with you in the confusion about the Hillman pick, I didn't understand it either. He actually is a good compliment to Ball but we didnt even have Ball yet when we made the pick last year, so it was a little confusing. i still think he can end up being a great change of pace back for us, but only time will tell.

But like I said, Montee Ball is a BEAST.

[SoundsOfSuccess]

Lamar Miller has shoulder problems that might catch up to him. Great player and I wanted him too, but it at least makes sense that they passed on him.

[broncos SB2010]

I think it is way to early to judge Hillman yet.

[Matymaddog]

Well I am extremely biased. I wanted us to take Hillman in the 3rd a year ago and even earlier if there was any indication of him going in the second. If Montee Ball came out a year ago I would have taken him in the 1st. I would have taken Lonnie Pryor and Zac Stacy in the 4th this year. If I were to take Lamar Miller 2 years I'm on the record as taking him in the 4th or later. I would have taken Mike Gillislee in the 4th this year after both Stacy and Pryor. So my credibility as a RB is really on the line the next few years. I was a fan of Montel Harris this year as well as taking Bryce Brown a year ago in the 5th

[beastlyskronk]

Turbin had a serious knee injury in college. Pierce got in trouble in high school for assault. Miller had shoulder problems as well. Hillman had never had a serious injury and has a clean record. Comparing the YPC between the RBs isn't fair to Hillman as he ran behind the worst run blocking o-line of the group. Also the majority of the time Hillman was getting carries was late in the game. Everyone says Moreno did great last year and he did, but his YPC don't reflect how well he actually did, the same holds true for Hillman.

[CoryWinget81]

Does everyone like CJ Spiller?

Explosive play is defined by a play 15+ yards, a 5+ yard first down conversion, or a 5+ yard TD scored.

In their rookie years Ronnie Hillman had 94 touches and 12 explosive plays, and Spiller had 98 touches and 11 explosive plays.

Lesean McCoy had 14 explosive plays on 195 touches.

:shrug: Pigeon hole him if you want, but he's on par.

[crash123go]

I do not think a player should be judged on their rookie season, year 2 is where we see the most growth in a player. I will also give all of Elways draft picks the 3 year bumper all draft picks should get before being judged

[cdumler7]

As stated above I think there were a few things that played into the Broncos taking Hillman over those other guys. The injury concerns when the Broncos already had 2 backs on the roster that had major injury histories definitely played into it. The coaching staff has also shown that at this point they do not take many players with questionable pasts.

I also think with Hillman being the youngest player in the NFL this past season the Broncos realized he was/is a developmental player. He is still growing an NFL body shown by his huge change in weight/muscle added just this past off season. They already had on the roster Moreno and McGahee so the need for an impact running back in year 1 of his career was not as essential. Now I think some of that changed this year with both Moreno and McGahee coming back from serious injuries and really needing an in between the tackles kind of guy like Ball.

This definitely is a big year for Hillman as he has definitely went out and talked a big game to the media. This will be his chance to show that passing on those guys was well worth it. Although I do see some of those guys becoming featured backs in the league like Miller this year and possibly Pierce down the road having that homerun threat can be just as important. Not saying those guys cannot be that as they do have the speed and ability but I guess time will tell which of these guys becomes the biggest of the big play backs of this group.

I like Hillman but he was one of the guys last year that at least for me I went "Who?" Having watched some of his games I liked what I saw but I am still hesitant to say how good or bad he is going to be in this league. When we drafted Ball I did not have that feeling one bit. I think he will be one of those solid producers for the next 7-8 years for the Broncos.

[bronx_2003]

Whats this. A Hillman thread, welllll..............

I don't really like talking about other backs we could have taken. There's one I really like but can't remember his name.... I'm sure it will come to me.

Elway and Fox have drafted very well. The 2 big questions are at RB and corner.

I would have taken Miller instead of Hillman. Its early but it looks the wrong move at the moment IMO.

Montee has grown on me and could be very good pick, however... if Lacy lights it up and Montee is average then everyone will say we could of had a Lacy / Miller tandem.

At corner Bolden looks a bad pick. I know I know its still early and I'm not writing him off but when he played limited time last year he really struggled so that will be interesting to see.

Webster is the one pick everyone thinks was a huge reach. We will see how he does.

On my mock Broncos Big Board I had us coming out that draft with Miller and Boykin..... both look very impressive...... I just hope Hillman and Bolden make a jump this year.

[ERoyal248]

Miller hasnt done any better than Hillman, bronx. Stupid to say impressive while all hes done is run in garbage time.

On Montee, Elway said it came down to the medicals. I got a text from someone who covers the NFL, a lot of GM's dont think he will make it longer than 3 years.

[bronx_2003]

Miller hasnt done any better than Hillman, bronx. Stupid to say impressive while all hes done is run in garbage time.

On Montee, Elway said it came down to the medicals. I got a text from someone who covers the NFL, a lot of GM's dont think he will make it longer than 3 years.

Miller looked impressive running last year, good average as well, they had enough faith to release Bush and have named Miller the clear starter already. Frank Gore has also come out in praise for him. We will see when the season starts but so far the signs are very good.

Regarding Boykin he played a lot of snaps last year and is already inked in as the slot corner. He struggled a little early season then had a terrific second half of the season and ranked as one of the better slots in the league.

Also, just because Denver shied away because of a perceived injury worry he still went in the second and GB had enough faith to spend a second so we will see.

I kept hearing how clever we were taking Royal over D Jax but sometimes you have to roll the dice if someone has the talent whether its character or injury issues.

[Matymaddog]

Whats this. A Hillman thread, welllll..............

I don't really like talking about other backs we could have taken. There's one I really like but can't remember his name.... I'm sure it will come to me.

Elway and Fox have drafted very well. The 2 big questions are at RB and corner.

I would have taken Miller instead of Hillman. Its early but it looks the wrong move at the moment IMO.

Montee has grown on me and could be very good pick, however... if Lacy lights it up and Montee is average then everyone will say we could of had a Lacy / Miller tandem.

At corner Bolden looks a bad pick. I know I know its still early and I'm not writing him off but when he played limited time last year he really struggled so that will be interesting to see.

Webster is the one pick everyone thinks was a huge reach. We will see how he does.

On my mock Broncos Big Board I had us coming out that draft with Miller and Boykin..... both look very impressive...... I just hope Hillman and Bolden make a jump this year.

Ahh but ye stand corrected. It's not a Hillman thread, it's a thread about how we drafted. Your Miller talk is completely warranted in such a thread my good sir.

Was also a Boykin fan. A Miller/Lacy combo would be very interesting but it also has the potential to be just as injury riddled as our backfield was last year.

[bronx_2003]

Ahh but ye stand corrected. It's not a Hillman thread, it's a thread about how we drafted. Your Miller talk is completely warranted in such a thread my good sir

I would love Hillman to have a pro bowl year, and to be fair he seems to have put in the off-season work

[ERoyal248]

Miller looked impressive running last year, good average as well, they had enough faith to release Bush and have named Miller the clear starter already. Frank Gore has also come out in praise for him. We will see when the season starts but so far the signs are very good.

Regarding Boykin he played a lot of snaps last year and is already inked in as the slot corner. He struggled a little early season then had a terrific second half of the season and ranked as one of the better slots in the league.

Also, just because Denver shied away because of a perceived injury worry he still went in the second and GB had enough faith to spend a second so we will see.

I kept hearing how clever we were taking Royal over D Jax but sometimes you have to roll the dice if someone has the talent whether its character or injury issues.

They don't have anyone else so of course he's the starter. And Bush was a FA, not released. Fact remains he ran in garbage time, he didn't do much more than Hillman did so its a bit premature to say he's impressive.

I agree on Boykin but Bolden was coming back from a knee injury and didn't get much time on defense.

The Packers wanted Montee, it was reported by a lot of people. They drafted Franklin who may be the better back long term.

Montee holds the NCAA record for TD's, he has a nose for the end zone. Hardly close to DJax and Royal. Not to mention Lacy ran behind a line that is probably better than some NFL teams lines. And Ball lost Zietler and Konz to the NFL if you wanna use it against Ball. And lost Wilson to the NFL. Montee is a stud.