Ronnie Hillman, Juwan Thompson's Instant Fantasy Reaction After Week 8

Ronnie Hillman can't buy a touchdown. Juwan Thompson, however, got two in his first three touches during Thursday night's game 35-21 win over the San Diego Chargers.

Thompson carried the ball in from two yards out in the third quarter to give Denver a 28-7 lead in what turned out to be yet another Denver blowout. The undrafted rookie out of Duke had not touched the ball previously and was lined up at fullback on a misdirection goal-line carry. With part of the Denver offensive line breaking out to the right—ostensibly to show a toss to Hillman—Peyton Manning handed the ball off to Thompson inside.

Player	Carries	Yards	YPG	TDs	Receptions	Yards	Targets
Ronnie Hillman	20	109	5.5	0	3	29	4
Juwan Thompson	7	24	3.4	2	0	0	1

Thompson's second score was more self-explanatory. Lining up in the fullback spot again, he took a quick handoff from Manning and kept his legs churning before being spun into the end zone by a San Diego defender to cap off Denver's scoring.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying the only reaction to Thompson's touchdowns is glee if you're a Broncos fan or horror as a Hillman owner. No matter the criteria—snap count, touches, production, etc.—he is clearly the backup behind Hillman until Montee Ball returns from injury. Last week Hillman received 37 offensive snaps to Thompson's 14, per Football Outsiders, a split that will continue being the representative sample going forward.

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

In fact, the only reason Thompson got his first opportunity to score was because a Hillman touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty. Hillman carried the ball in from 33 yards out earlier in the drive, but Orlando Franklin's obvious hold sprung him free.

It was the second near-touchdown of the game Hillman had wiped off the board, the first coming earlier in the third quarter when the tip of his toe went out of bounds inside the San Diego 5-yard line. Manning would hit Emmanuel Sanders two plays later, their third such connection of the evening.

Making his second start for the injured Ball, Hillman is again in the middle of a sensational performance. The 2012 third-round pick has 109 yards on the ground and has caught three balls for 29 yards, good for his third straight double-digit fantasy day. The results from Hillman have been good enough to make you wonder whether the Broncos might stick with the hot hand when Ball returns.

While he was handed the job in the preseason after a promising rookie campaign, Ball was plodding and mostly ineffective before the injury. The Wisconsin product has 171 yards on 3.1 yards per carry, giving him 68 fewer yards than Hillman on the same number of carries coming into Week 8.

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

With the Broncos dismantling another strong opponent, John Fox might be better served keeping Hillman as the starter and using Ball in short yardage going forward. Until the numbers indicate otherwise, Hillman is a top-tier RB2 or possibly an RB1 in some deeper leagues.

As for Thompson? It appears he may vulture some goal-line looks in the interim. There just won't be enough to make him worth owning in any leagues. Thursday was the anomaly, not the rule. 

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