Montee Ball entered Thursday night's Denver Broncos preseason finale with an opportunity to prove that he belongs on the team's 53-man roster. 

With both C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman resting, Ball got the start against the Arizona Cardinals. He responded by putting up 27 yards on 16 rush attempts against backups on the other side of the ball. Sure the Broncos offensive line struggled opening up holes, but Ball was nowhere near the player we saw when he entered the league as a second-round pick back in 2012. 

The former Wisconsin standout consistently failed to hit open holes, as his burst of speed seemed to be lacking considerably. It's a pretty dramatic fall from grace for Ball, who entered last season as the team's starting running back. 

With Juwan Thompson overtaking Ball as the Broncos third running back, it's highly likely that the latter will be a final cut come Saturday. Though, I expect Denver to look to trade him before then.