The 2015 season is hard to analyze because Forsett suffered a season-ending injury in November. He was on track for another 1,000-yard season, but barely. His per-rush average had declined from 5.4 in 2014 to 4.2 in 2015, quite a falloff.
After Forsett was out, his replacement, rookie Buck Allen, performed capably enough, averaging 3.5 yards on 95 carries. Allen's backup,
Terrance West, also exhibited potential, breaking several runs. Taliaferro, who went on injured reserve, has moved piles in his brief career. And now the Ravens are looking at adding Trent Richardson to the mix.
It was the report of a possible Richardson signing that got me thinking about all this. Predictably, it produced a flurry of online speculation. Would his arrival lead the salary-cap-strapped Ravens to cut Forsett and clear cap space? Or could Richardson, the third overall pick in the 2012 draft, become a top backup?