Wednesday open thread: Grade the Justin Forsett signing

The Detroit Lions needed to do something about their running game. In the past three games, Detroit has averaged just 65.3 yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry. Ameer Abdullah is injured and likely out for the year. Dwayne Washington missed last game with an ankle injury and could potentially miss more time.

The Lions took a risk last week by only having two active backs on the gameday roster. Luckily for Detroit, Theo Riddick and Zach Zenner made it all the way through the game, but the Lions will no longer have to take that risk. Detroit signed former Ravens running back Justin Forsett. Forsett will likely immediately jump into the gameday lineup, but his role with the team is still obviously undefined.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

What grade do you give the signing of Justin Forsett?

My answer: B. There’s obviously a lot of unknowns in this equation. We don’t know the terms of the signing, though you have to believe it’s a one-year deal somewhere near the veteran minimum. We don’t know what the status of Washington is right now. But here’s what we do know: Forsett is a 31-year-old veteran who has had moderate success running the ball recently. He wasn’t great earlier this year, but he was valuable to the Ravens last year. He will bring experience to the backfield that the Lions are severely lacking. Forsett has more career carries (764) than Riddick (122), Zenner (27) and Washington (18) combined.

Forsett isn’t going to suddenly electrify the Lions’ backfield, but he should add some reliability to a shaky running game.

Your turn.