AP

Montee Ball has said he thinks he’ll be the No. 1 running back in Denver again. But it doesn’t look that way.

Last year Ball was a distant fourth on the team in rushing, with 55 carries for 172 yards — an average of just 3.1 yards a carry. And this year, after the team’s veteran minicamp, it appears that there’s not much of a chance for Ball to get himself back to the top of the depth chart.

Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that if C.J. Anderson stays healthy, the Broncos are committed to Anderson as the starter. Coach Gary Kubiak would like to have one clear-cut No. 1 running back, rather than take a running back by committee approach, and it appears that Anderson is that running back, with Ronnie Hillman and Juwan Thompson competing with Ball at No. 2.

It may even be possible that Ball will end up on the roster bubble, if both Hillman and Thompson look better than Ball in camp. That would be quite a fall for Ball.