The Ravens made a change in the backfield before Sunday’s game against the Raiders when they bumped Terrance West into the starting lineup and left Justin Forsett, who has been the starter when healthy since 2014, on the inactive list.
West ran 21 times for 113 yards, making him the first 100-yard rusher for the Ravens in nearly a full year. With rookie Kenneth Dixon expected back from an August knee scope in the very near future and Buck Allen on hand as another backup, that might lead some to think that Forsett’s spot on the roster could be in jeopardy.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn’t confirm Forsett would be sticking around on Monday, but he also said it was too soon to jump to conclusions about anyone’s role on the offense down the road.
“Justin Forsett is a highly respected, highly valued guy in my eyes and the eyes of all of us,” Harbaugh said, via the Baltimore Sun. “It’s a competitive world that we’re in. It’s a competitive league, a competitive sport, and he knows that as well as anybody. It doesn’t diminish him in any way. It enhances him in terms of how you handle it. We’ll just have to see. All of those personnel things are all to be determined. You can’t say anything about where anything is going to go. You just don’t know. None of us have that ability to see into the future. So we’ll see how it plays out.”
Allen saw seven special teams snaps in the loss to the Raiders, but neither Forsett nor West have played a snap in the kicking game this season. Should the Ravens need a roster spot due to injuries at another spot, that would seem to make Forsett vulnerable since the Ravens aren’t likely to cut bait on Dixon at this early point in his career.