More Surprising: A.J. or LaMichael?

Originally posted by mebemused:
Plus, everybody on this forum was thinking we would draft for our biggest needs: WR and OG in the first two rounds. With Frank Gore still producing, a situational RB in the second round? Yes, a complete surprise.

Even with Harbaugh Gore produced good when the interior O-Line did their job...Gore is very OG-dependable, contrary to that the smaller Hunter or James can do a lot with their quick feet.
I dont trust Gore's supreme 2011 season at all.

Originally posted by communist:
Even with Harbaugh Gore produced good when the interior O-Line did their job...Gore is very OG-dependable, contrary to that the smaller Hunter or James can do a lot with their quick feet.
I dont trust Gore's supreme 2011 season at all.

?

what neither hunter or james can run in etween tackles at all theats why they arent OG dependent we only used hunter on toss or counters and draws

even in college james was unable to run in between the tackles what makes you think he can do it in nfl?

and the reason why we got james was this:

The 49ers targeted RB just 54 times last season, second-fewest in the NFL. Despite this, 49ers RBs dropped a league-high 9 passes

if you think we brought him to be a priemere back to replace gore youre mistaken

to be honest w/ you guys, I had us taking LeMichae James with our 1st pick in the 2nd round. I just some how knew that Harbaugh saw too much of LeMichael when they played them at Oregon 2 years ago.

Plus, I really think that Gore is done and showed me last year that he can not be counted on when playing on a very big game..

But just like Tampa Bay's Warrick Dunn of yesteryears, Harbaugh will find ways to use LeMichael and take care of his skills..

As for Jenkins, as impressive as he may be, I just can't believe he's worth a first rounder. It woulda been different if we traded out of the first round, and even move up in the 2nd round to draft this kid, but did we really take him cause he was the best player available??

Originally posted by 49ersalldaway126:
?

what neither hunter or james can run in etween tackles at all theats why they arent OG dependent we only used hunter on toss or counters and draws

even in college james was unable to run in between the tackles what makes you think he can do it in nfl?

and the reason why we got james was this:

The 49ers targeted RB just 54 times last season, second-fewest in the NFL. Despite this, 49ers RBs dropped a league-high 9 passes

if you think we brought him to be a priemere back to replace gore youre mistaken

Hm, I thought that I pointed out EXACTLY that gore/jacobs are NOT comparable with hunter/james (ok, that was in another thread)...and when I'm talking about quick feet, primarily I think of getting around the corner and NOT between the tackles. Thus, I'm with you on the "fact" that James won't be a huge help between the tackles BUT we got a very good 3rd-down RB, Sproles-like (I think that we agree in this point, too)...

Generally I wanted to say that Gore is a between the tackles-RB only (more or less) and he is injury-prone, usually. Imo, that is a bigger issue than not being able to run between the tackles effectively but getting around the corner well or being a huge receiving threat.

Originally posted by Magzarillious:
Lamichael James are future>>> Is this big enough? I'm not sure.... So stoked about this pick

That grin is bigger than James. He's going to be a nice role player for this team but the future? No chance. He's a great compliment back to Frank and or whomever they bring in over the next couple years but IMO he'll never be a feature back or "the future".

Both! these are my least favorite moves in this draft!

It just shows that it's virtually impossible to predict what Baalke will do. We all fall into the trap of listening too much to so-called experts that really have less of a clue than we do WRT what the Niners will do in the draft. Both Jenkins and Looney impressed Harbaugh & Baalke at the combine, and Looney didn't even workout. Coach said Looney was in the top 3 of all the interviews he did. If you look at A.J.'s numbers, they were impressive, especially on a team that lost their last 6 games. Speed to burn, and sure, big hands...I'll take that any day. Harbaugh saw for himself (painfully so) what James can do...so why wouldn't he want him on the Niners. Again, we were all led to believe if they drafted a RB, it'd be a big guy. Instead, enter Mr. Explosiveness, LeMichael James. I can't wait to see how Harbaugh will use him...but, make no mistake, he will indeed use him and Hunter to give the O a different dimension. Full playbook, explosive players. You do the math. Looney's a big, bad OG. 41 straight starts. Untold pancake blocks...should be quite a competition between he and Kilgore. Fleming's another guy Harbaugh coached against...very good tackler, ST's at first, then Leavitt will coach up to be solid b/u. Robinson...another guy who's been told he's too small to play. All Big-10, rated 2.69 on SI.com scale, a steal in 6th rd. He'll buddy up w/Whitner and learn how to succeed in NFL. Slowey...dominated in Div II. Played everywhere on OL. Will understudy Goodwin to take over C at some point. Started out w/only 3 bench reps as freshman...did 38 at pro day. Cam Johnson...everybody shied away due his sickle-type disease. It can be managed, and with Leavitt coaching him, should become another good pass rusher. May prove to be THE steal of the draft.

James

Jenkins caught me off guard but I was at least expecting a WR at that spot.

James just shocked me. I wasn't expecting a RB or James specifically. Our backfield already includes Gore, Hunter, Jacobs, and a ST guy in Cartwright. Dixon was already cut in my mind, now I'd say Cartwright probably never suits up for us. I'm not sure James really adds 2nd round value to that mix, but I'm not down on the pick. Baalke made moves last year that I questioned and all of them turned out, so I trust this will too.

Originally posted by GolittaCamper:
Both! these are my least favorite moves in this draft!

That's too bad. Going to suck for you when both those cats start moving chains and scoring TDs. So when we're all cheering and jumping out of our seats by the new excitement, you can sit quietly and reminesce just how bad these two picks were on your draft board.

You know I'm messin' with ya, but curious why they're your least fav. Is it because you deem them as reaches?

IMO, these were home frickin' runs, baby especially James!

It's the type of speed they bring. Jenkins, unlike Hill, has the speed and route running ability. He gains separation quickly in and out of breaks plus has much better hands than Crabs plus he can be moved anywhere a WR sets, X, Y AND Z, as Harbaugh said scheme diverse. He on the outside and in the slot will cause problems as he can blow the top of the secondary and force those damn safeties out of the box.

And that's were James comes in on 3rd downs. He will be a 3rd down specialist while dispelling Gore at times. He can screen, split wide or even play slot, but where I see him exploding is behind the pulls. He can burst through just like Gore, but has the speed to finish it. As much as I love Gore, he seems to get tackled from behind frequently. After watching his highlights, I can say with all my faith that this kid takes a five yard run into 15 more at least if not a home run to the EZ.
Time and time again, I'm like, "WTF! How'd he do that?" and not just once either. He just kept doing it and against some stiff competition like LSU and Stanford.

Hmmmmm....last year we had

Crabtree, Morgan, Ginn, Williams, Swain, and Hastings. Now...Crabtree, Moss, Manningham, Jenkins, Ginn, Williams, and Owusu.

Gore, Hunter, Dixon. Now...Gore, Hunter, James, Hampton, Cartwright AND Jacobs...

What incredible upgrades and we will not be able to keep all of them so the competition is going to be fierce.

Yup, both surprising at all level, but the correct choices it seems.

In Baalke, I trust!

LaMike.

Since we drafted Hunter and added a FA RB, I didn't think we'd add a 4th RB, espicially early on.

Originally posted by mebemused:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
LaMichael is way more surprising. We already have Hunter. The 49ers must love tiny RB's. Not sure what it says about the confidence they have in Gore either. They are looking out longer term which is good. I'm just surprised they want to go so small. But James is fast and quick so maybe he can be our Sproles. Which would help us.

+1

49ers play power football. The 49ers brought in Robert Turbin, a big back, for a look. And like SanDiego49er says, we already have Hunter as our 3rd down back.

Plus, everybody on this forum was thinking we would draft for our biggest needs: WR and OG in the first two rounds. With Frank Gore still producing, a situational RB in the second round? Yes, a complete surprise.

BTW, I can't wait to see how Harbaugh uses James and Hunter this upcoming season.

Plus 2!

Why, with Hunter already, do we get another change of pace back? If a back at all, why not an eventual replacement for Gore, 'cause I'm not convinced he'll last an entire season. Then what do we have; 2 scat backs and a "former" road grader. Where's the every down back? Weren't Miller and Turbin both available at the time? Lots of questions, huh? This draft has me perplexed, but then I felt the same way about Aldon and look what happened there!

Originally posted by 4evrfan:
Plus 2!

Why, with Hunter already, do we get another change of pace back? If a back at all, why not an eventual replacement for Gore, 'cause I'm not convinced he'll last an entire season. Then what do we have; 2 scat backs and a "former" road grader. Where's the every down back? Weren't Miller and Turbin both available at the time? Lots of questions, huh? This draft has me perplexed, but then I felt the same way about Aldon and look what happened there!

I think the take away is Harbaalke don't believe in an every down back.

Based on what I've seen from Harbaugh from his coaching days at Stanford till when he was with the 49ers, I think the idea that Harbaugh prefers a power run game is complete BS. What Harbaugh loves is to create mis matches. He built the power run game at Stanford because everyone in the PAC was going with smaller and quicker defenses to compete against Oregon's O. Not to mention, Harbaugh couldn't recruit guys like DeAnthony Thomas or speed backs because all the bigger schools were going hard at them.

Harbaugh is a coach willing to think out of the box (but not recklessly) to create mismatches. My 2 cents is, he felt handcuffed in the variety of looks/mismatches he could create with the limited speed we had at skill positions.

Gore will be 29 next season with 2 years left on his contract. Last year he touched the ball the most times since 2007, and honestly I think ti really showed down the stretch. He didn't rush for over 100 yards past early November and after early November, I thought he visibly looked different then from what he looked early on in the year. Often he couldn't finish drives and spent time standing on the sidelines.

I expect Gore to get let go when his contract expires. LaMike/Hunter will be splitting touches and used in a variety of different way and in different formations which is Harbaugh's game.

I think everybody expected the Niners to take a RB NEXT YEAR to get the replacement of Gore. But obviously Baalke felt LaMike was a top RB that fit the scheme that Harbaalke wanted to use moving forward in the future. LaMike can line up as a WR and we all know how much Harbaugh loves to motion into a different look offense after lining up. Hell, Harbaugh may have drafted LaMike because he got excited he will have a dozen more crazy motions to do!

Originally posted by 4evrfan:
Plus 2!

Why, with Hunter already, do we get another change of pace back? If a back at all, why not an eventual replacement for Gore, 'cause I'm not convinced he'll last an entire season. Then what do we have; 2 scat backs and a "former" road grader. Where's the every down back? Weren't Miller and Turbin both available at the time? Lots of questions, huh? This draft has me perplexed, but then I felt the same way about Aldon and look what happened there!

I think the take away is Harbaalke don't believe in an every down back.

Based on what I've seen from Harbaugh from his coaching days at Stanford till when he was with the 49ers, I think the idea that Harbaugh prefers a power run game is complete BS. What Harbaugh loves is to create mis matches. He built the power run game at Stanford because everyone in the PAC was going with smaller and quicker defenses to compete against Oregon's O. Not to mention, Harbaugh couldn't recruit guys like DeAnthony Thomas or speed backs because all the bigger schools were going hard at them.

Harbaugh is a coach willing to think out of the box (but not recklessly) to create mismatches. My 2 cents is, he felt handcuffed in the variety of looks/mismatches he could create with the limited speed we had at skill positions.

Gore will be 29 next season with 2 years left on his contract. Last year he touched the ball the most times since 2007, and honestly I think ti really showed down the stretch. He didn't rush for over 100 yards past early November and after early November, I thought he visibly looked different then from what he looked early on in the year. Often he couldn't finish drives and spent time standing on the sidelines.

I expect Gore to get let go when his contract expires. LaMike/Hunter will be splitting touches and used in a variety of different way and in different formations which is Harbaugh's game.

I think everybody expected the Niners to take a RB NEXT YEAR to get the replacement of Gore. But obviously Baalke felt LaMike was a top RB that fit the scheme that Harbaalke wanted to use moving forward in the future. LaMike can line up as a WR and we all know how much Harbaugh loves to motion into a different look offense after lining up. Hell, Harbaugh may have drafted LaMike because he got excited he will have a dozen more crazy motions to do!

double post.

What coach doesn't love to get the player that beat them??? Harbaugh is no exception.

Tolzien beat us in the preseason (SD) and LaMichael beat Stanford with Harbaugh there. As they say "If you can't beat them ..."