Montee Ball is recovering following an appendectomy. He should be good to go late in the preseason.
Analysis: Montee Ball should recover in time to be 100% for week one. But… if Ronnie Hillman impresses it could blow up the entire fantasy landscape. Currently, Ball is being drafted as the 7th to 13th running back. He is being taken in the 11-29 pick range. It takes a lot of faith to draft a back that isn’t good to go right now and may lose some carries if his backup kills it in camp/preseason. There are plenty of safer options later on including Doug Martin or CJ Spiller.
Last year Ball rushed for 559 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns on 4.7 yards per carry. He lost 3 fumbles on just 120 carries. The fumbles are an issue. Ronnie Hillman is an issue. His appendectomy is an issue. His average draft position is an issue.
When you draft a lower tier RB1 or a higher end RB2 you want to be certain he will be on the end of 275 or so touches. Do you have confidence that Ball will get that many touches? I didn’t think so. Ryan Mathews had 311 touches last year, Alfred Morris had 285, Zac Stacy had 276 in 14 games.