Getty ImagesIt’s a sign of the changing times in the NFL that it is hard to find too many people who think the running back who scored the most touchdowns in college football’s highest classification is worth a first-round pick.
Montee Ball got in the end zone 83 times and ran for 5,140 yards during his career at Wisconsin, but he’s hearing a lot of pundits say that he isn’t a special enough running back to go high in the draft. Ball, citing Curtis Martin and Terrell Davis as examples of other players given the same evaluation, says that he’s just fine with that label.
“They say I’m not special,” Ball said, via Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com. “They say I’m not especially fast. They say I’m not especially big. Well, fine, I’ll take that as a compliment. They’re not tearing me apart. They’re just saying that I don’t do one thing special. So what? If you’re pretty good all the way around, then you can be a very good running back.”
Yasinskas spoke to Ball at the IMG Academy in Florida where the back is working out with former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke and others to prepare for the combine and team workouts leading up to the draft. Weinke had good things to say about Ball’s pass-catching ability and consistency (not that you’d expect anything else from someone paid to prepare Ball for the pros) and those two things will be vital to Ball’s chances of becoming the very good running back he hopes to become in the NFL.
Channel Finder
Stay in Sconnie, you’d be perfect for GB.
I love how some of these scouts overanalyze everything, that’s just how like Jerry Rice didn’t have the speed to be good in the NFL.
Get a lower score than Morris Claibourne and we will consider you special.
He was a great college back, and I am a fan of Wisconsin sports. I would love for him to be great in the NFL.
I have a tough time believing it though. Rushes when its designed to be going off tackle and bounces it outside.
The LBs in the NFL are a lot faster than the ones they had in Nebraska.
That said I do wish Mr. Ball a healthy and hopefully a very productive career.
A lot of people don’t know much about this guy, or ever heard of him. If the Packers are lucky enough to get him, their running back woes would be over.
Not being big or fast doesn’t translate to being “pretty good all the way around.”
The team that gets Montee (in the 3rd/4th round) will be very pleased.
Good luck, Montee Ball!
You’ll excuse if I don’t fall all over myself praising yet another Wisconsin RB who piled up yards running behind the massive O-line that teams puts on the field year after year.
It may not be fair, but I would be surprised if a team uses a first or second rounder on this guy, stats or no stats.
I think Montee has plenty of tools to be successful in the NFL.
What worries me the most about him is his mileage. He’s a typical Big 10 workhorse.
Always liked this guy’s running style. If he gets behind the right O-line look out! With Mendenhall leaving Pitt – Ball might be the answer for Steller nation