Anyone excited to see LeMichael James play?

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Originally posted by BayArea:
Only comparisons though. I don't think anybody is going to say he is up there with those guys. They are proven stars who have been there done that and at the very least he has the potential to be in their league. You can give him that though right? I can concede he has seasons and seasons to go of improvement and even (proving) before we put him on that level or even in the discussion. The guy at least deserves acknowledgement that he has the physical attributes to play at that level.

Webzone overrated is a tricky beast to tame btw. That can swing with the wind... lol

I understand what you are saying. I dont necissarily disagree, but the comparisons are not accurate. Anyone that watched LMJ play can tell you he was not a receiver and he was not a special teams player. He was not even an outside the tackles runner.

Can he deveolop those skills? possibly, but they arent as easy to develop as people make them out to be.

If he was natural at either one he would have been used more in that fashion.

He was an undersized, extremely elusive, fast, between the tackles RB in college. IMO i dont see him as an NFL scat back. I hope he can develop to be one, i really do, but right now i think he is probally still far from being one.

He wont be a workhorse like Gore and wont see nearly as many carries. I could see him thriving with our offensive line, and dangerous in the open field.

I base most of this off watching his college highlights. He is so quick and elusive. I swear I try to think of a better way to describe him but slippery is the best term I can think of. Dude can slip through a crack in the concrete.

With that said I really hope he is eased into this offense slowly. They drafted him to play but he needs refining I was hoping to see him starting next season the same way Hunter was worked into his position.

Originally posted by BayArea:
He wont be a workhorse like Gore and wont see nearly as many carries. I could see him thriving with our offensive line, and dangerous in the open field.

I base most of this off watching his college highlights. He is so quick and elusive. I swear I try to think of a better way to describe him but slippery is the best term I can think of. Dude can slip through a crack in the concrete.

With that said I really hope he is eased into this offense slowly. They drafted him to play but he needs refining I was hoping to see him starting next season the same way Hunter was worked into his position.

I edited my previous post, to add:

"Im more hopeful that he can put on weight and become a Ray Rice type running back, with more athleticism and less power, but there are very few players of his size that can hold up between the tackles."

Must have edited right after you quoted it.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Originally posted by BayArea:
He wont be a workhorse like Gore and wont see nearly as many carries. I could see him thriving with our offensive line, and dangerous in the open field.

I base most of this off watching his college highlights. He is so quick and elusive. I swear I try to think of a better way to describe him but slippery is the best term I can think of. Dude can slip through a crack in the concrete.

With that said I really hope he is eased into this offense slowly. They drafted him to play but he needs refining I was hoping to see him starting next season the same way Hunter was worked into his position.

I edited my previous post, to add:

"Im more hopeful that he can put on weight and become a Ray Rice type running back, with more athleticism and less power, but there are very few players of his size that can hold up between the tackles."

Must have edited right after you quoted it.

Call me crazy but i think lmj might be faster than bush. Lmj biggest problem in preseason was being tackled rather easily. If he cant improve his strength he wont make it.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

I'm not excited at all based on what I saw in the preseason. Him handling the ball makes me cringe.

......as a kick returner definitely. Didn't do to bad when he was playing from scrimmage. We will see.....

Could be a nice setup with Gore and Jacobs running over guys and then just when they get used to it James just cuts to the outside and runs around them!

Would love to see some plays where Gore and James are on the field together and really screw with the defense.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Actually, LMJ is the opposite. If he was like Bush or sproles i would be more excited.

LMJ made his money between the tackles in College. He is overrated in the pass game, and severely lacking in the return game.

I hope im wrong, but i think Harbaalkie missed on this one. Hope one day he can prove me wrong.

I'm gonna cut him some slack because he has no actual regular season playing time.

But I'm not excited based on his play in the preseason, I thought he was gonna be more dynamic.

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Actually, LMJ is the opposite. If he was like Bush or sproles i would be more excited.

LMJ made his money between the tackles in College. He is overrated in the pass game, and severely lacking in the return game.

I hope im wrong, but i think Harbaalkie missed on this one. Hope one day he can prove me wrong.

I'm gonna cut him some slack because he has no actual regular season playing time.

But I'm not excited based on his play in the preseason, I thought he was gonna be more dynamic.

If Hampton ends up being active over him on gamedays, then i will seriously begin to question the pick.

Right now im trying to cut him some slack, but i just dont see the comparisons some people toss around. I personally would not have drafted a RB that early in this draft, but thats not necissarily a knock on LMJ, just the way the draft was handled.

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/profile/OregonDuckNiner/

I really hope he at least suits up and sees SOME action... much rather have LMJ and Jacobs get touches over Dixon.

However, all of you that want/expect to see him at PR can forget about it. For those of you that watched the preseason, his struggles in the PR game were not random. Even at Oregon, when he would run like an animal out of the backfield, I still had to hold my breath when he was the PR. Sure, he made plays, but for some reason he just isn't suited to be a PR. He looks uncomfortable back there, and that's not a good thing.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
I edited my previous post, to add:

"Im more hopeful that he can put on weight and become a Ray Rice type running back, with more athleticism and less power, but there are very few players of his size that can hold up between the tackles."

Must have edited right after you quoted it.

I think you're spot on with your original post, and I argued that tirelessly with someone in the LMJ thread. He's not a Sproles-type back and didn't play like one in college. I'd like to think that 70 perfect of his yards on the ground came from in between the tackles, and we RARELY used him in the passing game. I only remember 1 or 2 touchdown catches in his 3 years at Oregon.

Ray Rice is a bit ambitious of a comparison, but I see where you're going. He needs to put on A LOT of weight to even resemble Rice because he's like a little bowling ball. James is deceptively strong and powerful for his size, however, which makes the Rice comparison realistic.

People who think he's just a speed guy are in for a pleasant surprise.

And it's LAMichael-f**king-James—With an A...

I'm so glad 10 different people decided to correct OP's spelling of LaMichael. After SofaKing did so on post #6, I was only slightly less confused about the spelling. No fear, a mere 9 posts down, smithgdwg assisted in clearing up the confusion. I wasn't sure if I fully understood the difference but after every post ignoring the point of the thread just to help the users of 49erswebzone like me incapable of processing such intricate names, I am now fully capable of spelling LaMichael James.

Originally posted by Ether:
I'm so glad 10 different people decided to correct OP's spelling of LaMichael. After SofaKing did so on post #6, I was only slightly less confused about the spelling. No fear, a mere 9 posts down, smithgdwg assisted in clearing up the confusion. I wasn't sure if I fully understood the difference but after every post ignoring the point of the thread just to help the users of 49erswebzone like me incapable of processing such intricate names, I am now fully capable of spelling LaMichael James.

LaFumble..... LaMuff.....

That's what I saw in preseason.

I'm excited to see him run behind our starting offensive line. He's more of a run up the gut, make one cut and uses his speed to get to the 2nd level. Faster than hunter, but not quite as strong or balanced. Hunter was playing extremely well this year, and I hope LMJ can duplicate his production. I hope Hunter and Williams recover well, but it's nice timing on the injuries so we can see what we have with our rookies. If LMJ doesn't do well we still have Jacobs. Crabtree, Manningham, Moss, and Davis is still one of the best 3 receiver sets in the league, and to have someone with the potential of A.J. Jenkins as our 4th guy makes me smile.