Denver Broncos Having A Montee Ball

There are a lot of varying viewpoints on the Montee Ball selection by the Denver Broncos, but NFL Data Consultants is a fan after much analysis. One of the data points of contention with RB Montee Ball was his short shuttle. A number of sources reported 4.11 and a number of them reported 4.31 as his short shuttle time. This is one of the reasons that NFL Data Consultants believe in a holistic approach and multiple points of analysis.

I take a specific approach when looking at a player’s production. In that analysis, Ball was graded at 5.01 yards per carry despite a non-adjusted figure of 5.6 yards per carry. From a production standpoint, this is a very good measure, especially considering his competition, challenge, and reliance metrics were all very good. Thus, it meant further investigation into some of the physical measures, including the 4.66/4.51 split in his 40 times between the combine and pro day. The culprit? Medication and sinus infection. One of the interesting things we had to do was go to our scientific approach with comparative analysis to get a much better read on his physical profile. The human bias would have been to say he was too slow, but the analytical approach is key to removing human bias. At the end of the process, Ball compared as a plus on LeSean McCoy, a runner that has started 44 games and averaged 4.6 yards per carry.

The great thing about using science in comparative analytics is that you can get a much stronger indicator of what a player is capable of doing at the pro levels. The other benefit is the ability to do a qualitative analysis to see what the scouting reports were of the comparable player. A common theme on physical elements of McCoy was that he is plenty quick enough to get to the corner, but lacked the elite speed. Interestingly enough, in his first 3 years he posted longs of 60 or more yards in each. According to Sports Science, Montee Ball had the 2nd fastest burst through the line and a stiff arm of 21.7% more force than Vikings RB Adrian Peterson. So what does the analytical package say? It appears the Denver Broncos have a good running back of the future regardless of any mixed reports that you see out there.