LaMichael James was a Niner (CUT!)

Now there is a story that the Niners have put Dixon on the trading block.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/report-49ers-looking-deal-dixon

This would make it more likely LMJ would be activated on game days (if the trade is made and Dixon's spot on the roster is taken by a player that still needs a bit of time to fully recover/become game ready)

Was this the plan the whole time? (Give LMJ a bit more time to fully heal and be very fresh for second half of season)

Originally posted by defenderDX:
So now we don't like LaMichael James.

oh ok

i turned on him two days ago when he kept b***hing on social media about his lack of playing time... i then thought about his body of work and opted that it is not tragic if we get rid of him

I'd be more pissed if we hot rid of boobie and kept LMJ. Boobie has been great at short distance runs and is awesome on special teams. LMJ does neither.

Originally posted by defenderDX:

Originally posted by NJNiner:
If we do land a WR like Gordon, who do you think will be send packing? I am betting Kyle Williams gets the axe!

Kyle Williams will not get the axe. The coaches like him as a returned otherwise James would be returning...

I think this just changed!

Can LMJ even be considered a Niner? I'm starting to forget what he looks like.

Originally posted by diablo:
I feel that LMJ is grossly overrated. He looks nothing like Sproles. Hunter is signficantly better than LMJ.

How do we know this. There is a huge difference in the way Sproles is used in NO versus the way LMJ is used here. Here we have a few spread plays that are add-ons to our basic offense. So LMJ is basically an add-on also, and opposing D's are more easily able to predict the play when he is in the game. In NO Sproles is completely integrated into the offense and is on the field 2/3 of the time. He is motioned all over the place, works out of the slot, etc. He's a continual Wild Card. It's the same with Tavon Austin with the Rams. He's having a miserable year considering his talent and draft position. Why? Because he too is an addendum to their basic offensive strategy. They pepper him in occasionally on certain plays but he is not continually a dynamic playmaking potential. Until Roman and Harbaugh figure out how to keep him on the offense at least a third to half of the time where is moved all over the place and is given the ball from many different formations we will never find out his capacities.

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by defenderDX:
So now we don't like LaMichael James.

oh ok

i turned on him two days ago when he kept b***hing on social media about his lack of playing time... i then thought about his body of work and opted that it is not tragic if we get rid of him

you turn on everyone no1curr

Originally posted by TexasGuero49:
Either trade him or activate him and trade Kyle.

This. And I would vote to keep him. James was awesome at Oregon under the read option. He is the best RB on our team in space and can turn the corner on sweeps. I would love to see a package with him and Hunter in the backfield and Kaep in the pistol.

Why do people care if he's not happy? I think its a GOOD thing he's not happy. He thinks he's better than a guy who is typically inactive every week. I happen to think he's right.

Originally posted by Kauaiguy:
Just like in Free Agency, the 49er's will DRAG their feet and most likely not do anything. UNTIL they find out that both Manningham and Crabtree are not fully healed and are unable to perform in full capacity, then we'll hear the Shudda , Cudda and Woulda statements.

Especially if one of the teams in the division picks up Gordon or one of the other receivers they were considering. I can see the reaction now if Seattle picks up one of them just to spite the 49er's.

im sure we'll sign some 40 year old veteran receiver if crabs or manningham dont come back 100% that seems to be how they like to work. whatever tho, even at less than their speed from last year they are an upgrade over our current receivers not named boldin. atleast they can catcha nd run routes. crabs doesnt have to be super fast anyway, he runs some of the best routes in the nfl

Originally posted by barrymartin:

Originally posted by diablo:
I feel that LMJ is grossly overrated. He looks nothing like Sproles. Hunter is signficantly better than LMJ.

How do we know this. There is a huge difference in the way Sproles is used in NO versus the way LMJ is used here. Here we have a few spread plays that are add-ons to our basic offense. So LMJ is basically an add-on also, and opposing D's are more easily able to predict the play when he is in the game. In NO Sproles is completely integrated into the offense and is on the field 2/3 of the time. He is motioned all over the place, works out of the slot, etc. He's a continual Wild Card. It's the same with Tavon Austin with the Rams. He's having a miserable year considering his talent and draft position. Why? Because he too is an addendum to their basic offensive strategy. They pepper him in occasionally on certain plays but he is not continually a dynamic playmaking potential. Until Roman and Harbaugh figure out how to keep him on the offense at least a third to half of the time where is moved all over the place and is given the ball from many different formations we will never find out his capacities.

Shhh, stop making sense....it much easier for NT "experts" to proclaim LMJ is garbage even when he's had extremely limited opportunities, and certainly nothing that seeks to exploit his skill set. As I've mentioned before, Sproles has made a living coming out of the backfield on routes, geting lost in the wash at the LOS, and then running past the LB who can't find him. Quick 3-4-5 yd pass down the seam or on a slant becomes chunk yardage. That is just one way LMJ could be utilized, but first it helps if he's active, and then HaRo have to be willing to install packages that give him the best opportunity to succeed.

I read that he has been working extensively on punts in practice. I forgot which article it was, but perhaps they are preparing James for an expanded role in the second half of the season. They can use him on the end arounds/sweeps, passes out of the backfield, and the occasional run. I love Frank Gore and he is CLEARLY the #1 back on this team, but there are times when he finds holes that I know if Hunter or James found those holes, it would be a 30+ yard gain, if not to the house. See Kendall Hunter's two big runs yesterday. I hope Roman takes notice and tries to work some of our home run hitters into the offense more.

None of this will matter much when the 49ers take the field against the Panthers. I have a feeling James will be activated after the bye. Kyle's days on special teams are numbered. I think this is why we're hearing about Dixon being on the trade block. I think James might finally be moving into the #3 role at running back and primary returner. Some of our backup lb's will have to take up Dixon's void on the special teams if he's indeed traded.

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
I read that he has been working extensively on punts in practice. I forgot which article it was, but perhaps they are preparing James for an expanded role in the second half of the season. They can use him on the end arounds/sweeps, passes out of the backfield, and the occasional run. I love Frank Gore and he is CLEARLY the #1 back on this team, but there are times when he finds holes that I know if Hunter or James found those holes, it would be a 30+ yard gain, if not to the house. See Kendall Hunter's two big runs yesterday. I hope Roman takes notice and tries to work some of our home run hitters into the offense more.

I think this is a real possibility, especially with rumors that Boobie is on the trading block. These guys seem to come up with whole new offensive wrinkles from time to time which catches most D coordinators completely unprepared. Notice who they did not read option for most of the season, then it's back. LMJ had some good games last year and the spread was very effective. If they are able to interchangeably go from power/play action to spread and even mix LMJ into both packages this will be extremely difficult for defenses to deal with. Again, Sproles is used this way in NO.

Good news here as long as Harbaugh isn't just saying this and actually intends to start playing LMJ:

‏@CSN49ers14m
Harbaugh says he wants to get LaMichael James into the mix. Says he's too good to leave on the sideline



can't find the tweet now but I saw another one earlier that said Harbaugh wants to get him involved both on offense & ST, really hope this means KW is inactive on game days going fwd.