When Seattle traded for LenDale White, the initial reaction, or so much as I could tell, was that White would likely land the starting gig and be spelled by Justin Forsett and Leon Washington. It wasn't a solution I favored, but it fits the general order of things. White has the size. White has the draft pedigree. White once ran for a thousand yards and that matters in ways it really shouldn't.
Well, luckily enough, White worked his way off the Seahawks roster and has now talked his way out of the league. Jot it down: when someone tells you they lost 30 pounds by abstaining from tequila, that person is either an spectacular alcoholic or a liar, likely both, and certainly too dumb to not admit they were previously drinking lethal amounts of Patron.
Dropping White created an opportunity, both for a smart play, riding Forsett and Washington while spelling the two with Julius Jones and Quinton Ganther, or a predictable play, reinstating Jones as the feature back. It also bolstered rumors that Seattle is interested in Marshawn Lynch. White, Jones, Ganther, Lynch, the combined interest seemingly implies that Seattle is not satisfied with its mighty-mite duo.
While I think it's better to attempt something special at the risk of failure than to attempt something mediocre while risking less, I do understand Pete Carroll's predicament. Leon Washington is fresh off a season-ending injury, and that proves in all its agonizing spectacle that Washington can be gone in an instant. Forsett only shouldered 20 plus carries once last season, against the Rams, and that left him "questionable" for the next contest with a quadriceps injury. He wasn't himself again for three weeks. Whether it has anything to do with his size, Forsett is a punishing rusher and force is distributed evenly between punished and punisher.
Seattle will run a committee, for sure, but I suspect just as surely, one back will rise above the rest. Jones is the complete back and the one proven capable of taking the toll. I already presented my plan and it calls on Jones mostly in mop-up situations. I somehow doubt the likelihood of such an arrangement, but what do you think?