There are surprises every year at the running back position, and Justin Forsett is looking like he might be one of those guys.
The Ravens released Ray Rice today, and Forsett suddenly looks like the best running back in Baltimore's backfield.
The back tracking and duck-and-cover spin doctoring on Rice has been remarkable. Rice punched and knocked out his fiancee (now wife) in the offseason and somehow got away with a two-game suspension. Roger Goodell indicated his hands were tied to do anything more. The Ravens made some comments about being impressed with how Rice had done such of a good job of owning up to his mistake.
Now, video emerges (on TMZ) of Rice throwing the punch, and suddenly the NFL and the Ravens are making every effort to distance themselves from Rice?
The league released a statement. "That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today." And the Ravens dropped Rice from their roster.
What changed? The video is ugly, but it's not surprising. Everything knew that he threw a punch that was violent enough to knock her out. The only slight downgrade in the video is that it underscores that in no way was the fiancee the one starting the altercation.
Rice can officially change his name to Radioactive Ray Rice. He's not going to play in the league again.
Bernard Pierce was supposed to be Baltimore's starter, but Justin Forsett kicked his butt in Week 1, consistently breaking tackles. Forsett is way better in the passing game. Pierce also struggled in the preseason.
I am re-working the numbers for all of the teams, but my guess is when the new draft board comes out on Tuesday, Forsett might be among the top 20 running backs on the board. Pierce will be maybe around No. 40.
—Ian Allan