Justin Forsett has been impressive, but Julius Jones remains Seahawks' No. 1 running back

At 5 feet 8, Justin Forsett won't stand out in a crowd. He is, however, more than capable of running his way through one.

After surpassing 100 yards rushing twice in the past three games, Forsett has sprinted to the forefront of Seattle's offense, yet coach Jim Mora isn't quite ready to write Forsett's name in permanent ink ahead of Julius Jones on Seattle's depth chart.

"Julius is our starting running back," Mora said. "He's our starting running back. That's what he is."

For now.

Jones hasn't played since suffering a bruised lung in the first quarter of Seattle's game at Arizona on Nov. 15. He was coughing up blood as recently as last week, and all that has happened over the past three games is the Seahawks have logged two of their three highest rushing totals of the season.

Forsett gained 123 yards against the Cardinals, 130 last week in St. Louis and has scored four of the Seahawks' past six touchdowns.

And for all that, what does the second-year back get? A pat on the back and an assurance he won't be forgotten.

"Justin's earned the right to carry the ball off of what he did at Arizona and what he did this week," Mora said. "So we're going to make sure he gets touches."

Well, that's not going to be good enough in the eyes of fans who want the starting job tucked away safely in Forsett's bread basket. But before anyone starts wondering whether Jones has compromising pictures of the Seahawks brass or a contractual guarantee to be the starter, consider the Seahawks still have to evaluate where he fits into the team's future.

And with two years on his contract, Jones still has a chance to do that. Plenty of fans have written him off, but this is an offense that functions best with multiple backs. It's why the Seahawks have burned through more than $3.5 million this year alone on veterans T.J. Duckett and Edgerrin James.

Before Seattle goes and tosses Jones on the pile of past-their-prime veterans that includes Duckett, James and Shaun Alexander, the Seahawks will give him a shot to see how productive he can be now that the offensive line has stabilized.

Running behind the patchwork line Seattle rolled out the first eight games doesn't qualify as a valid audition.

And while it's true Seattle's ground game got rolling in the game Jones was injured, Jones also showed some spark before he was hurt, picking up a blitzing linebacker Karlos Dansby. Jones averaged 5 yards the two times he carried the ball before the injury.

None of that diminishes the excitement Forsett has brought. A seventh-round pick in 2008, he has proved both elusive and tough, and one of the characteristics of a zone-blocking ground game like Seattle has installed is that late-round draft picks can become high-end producers.

But there's room for more than one runner in that backfield. In fact, there needs to be more than one.

An often-cited fact about offensive coordinator Greg Knapp is that his team has finished in the league's top 10 in rushing each of his eight seasons as an NFL coordinator, a streak certain to end this season. But it's also true that in the past seven seasons, Knapp's offense had at least two and sometimes three players with more than 100 carries.

"If we can have two guys running the ball effectively, then that's going to help us," Mora said.

Forsett's recent rushing success has shown he's part of Seattle's backfield equation. The fact that Jones remains atop the depth chart, at least for now, shows Seattle will give him the chance to show he belongs in Seattle's backfield of the future, too.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com