Jaguars OTAs: Justin Forsett ready for bigger role

By Alfie Crow@AlfieBCC May 22, 2013, 1:00pm EDT

The Jacksonville Jaguars offense struggled to run the football in the 2012 season, especially after Maurice Jones-Drew went down with his foot injury. The depth the Jaguars had at the running back position left a lot to be desired and also wound up dealing with injuries. The depth at the running back position was a big issue heading into the 2013 offseason and the Jaguars attempted to address that by signing veteran Justin Forsett, who's familiar with both head coach Gus Bradley and offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.

"He is. You can count on him, steady, always does things right, had a good last year," Bradley told the Florida Times-Union when asked if Forsett is "the guy" while Jones-Drew is rehabbing. "I know in talking with some of their staff earlier they felt strongly about him just the same way I felt about him when we were in Seattle. So I think he brings that continuity to what we have. He raises the level of play throughout the whole running backs.''

Last season Forsett was part of a three-man rotation with the Houston Texans, sharing back up carries with Ben Tate in spelling Arian Foster, ending the season with 63 carries for 374 yards and catching three passes out of the backfield. Forsett has always been a back up during his tenure in the NFL, the majority of which came with the Seattle Seahawks in his second and third seasons in the NFL.

Coming to Jacksonville, Forsett is once again going to be a back up running back, but this time he's going to be on a team that's likely going to lean on the run which means he should get more chances to touch the football in relief of Jones-Drew. It's part of the reason Forsett signed with the Jaguars, despite the Texans trying to re-sign him, along with his familiarity with the coaching staff.

"I'm feeling good out there mentally. I've worked with Jedd before so I know the kind of the system we're running. I've worked with Gus before so I know what he expects out of his players so it's going well so far,'' Forsett told the Florida Times-Union.

As it stands right now, Forsett is the primary back up to Jones-Drew with rookie Denard Robinson likely also getting carries.