LaMichael James was a Niner (CUT!)

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by Quest4six:
Lots of hate for LMJ in here, not sure what he has done to warrant that.
All game I saw Hyde and Gore getting well designed running plays between or around tackles, most had great blocking as well.

Can't recall seeing a "normal" play LMJ ran, all I can remember was him getting the ball dumped on him with 2-3 guys in front.
Its sad most people on here look at his stats and claim he is a bust, if he was on the team like the Saints we would have posters on here complaining about how we wiffed on a draft pick.
The guy is not a bust, he just hasn't gotten the right chance.

This is the main issue. Poor, poor, play calling. Can they use him on a normal running play? He was used inside at Oregon. And if he goes down by tripping on a blade of grass as many like to say, then it will be there for all the world to see.

Agree, and people seem to completely forget that he played very well a cpl years ago when Hunter went down & got the carries as the #2 RB. He's not great, he doesn't perfectly fit our system, but, it's good to have a change of pace guy. And to everyone that wants him cut this year when Lattimore returns, it's not gonna happen. Think of it this way, if Ellington gets hurt, we would be totally screwed w/o LMJ. I do think once Lattimore is 100% healthy, he's gonna jump LMJ in the RB depth chart, but it's not like we can fully trust that Latt will remain healthy and productive & it's not like Gore is a spring chicken. LMJ stays this year, he may not be here next year, but he's not going anywhere this season.

James is the only player of late to openly complain about his playing time and the team. Would bet that he is the so-called "veteran" whispering BS to ill informed journalists about Harbaugh losing the locker room.

Originally posted by vermonator:
James is the only player of late to openly complain about his playing time and the team. Would bet that he is the so-called "veteran" whispering BS to ill informed journalists about Harbaugh losing the locker room.

Lol..I can definitely see this.

Originally posted by vermonator:
James is the only player of late to openly complain about his playing time and the team. Would bet that he is the so-called "veteran" whispering BS to ill informed journalists about Harbaugh losing the locker room.

Could be...

He complains often, even stated his hope the team would trade him or let him go, only to feign frustration with his followers that he "isn't always talking about football."
His "speed and quickness" are a myth. Too many became enamored during his college days. He hasn't demonstrated the talent so many thought he had shown in college. He just doesn't add much to the 49ers.

f**k him, he was forgettable. to keep him just because he is a back up returner, which is something mr multi task perrish cox can do,,, is stupid. should have cut him and kept,,, ah never mind

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by outside4949:
he sucks. cut him

No, no, no.

Think bigger: trade him.

for what?? who the f**k would give up anything for him. the ONLY time i will say i was wrong about roman when i used to think roman was not using him right.. james is just a f**k up and i agree with all who say IF any vet mouthed off to the media off the record it would be miss james

Originally posted by Quest4six:
Lots of hate for LMJ in here, not sure what he has done to warrant that.
All game I saw Hyde and Gore getting well designed running plays between or around tackles, most had great blocking as well.

Can't recall seeing a "normal" play LMJ ran, all I can remember was him getting the ball dumped on him with 2-3 guys in front.
Its sad most people on here look at his stats and claim he is a bust, if he was on the team like the Saints we would have posters on here complaining about how we wiffed on a draft pick.
The guy is not a bust, he just hasn't gotten the right chance.

jamesexcuses are getting pretty thin in my opinion.. when you got hyde and gore running the way they do esp late in the game when we have the lead,, why would you bring james in the game.... it is also not his stats,,,, in case you have been under a rock it is his nonstop whining and tweeting that has gotten on our nerves,,, plus he was beat out of the return job fair and square by a kid. f**k him

Part of the problem with LMJ is that he is used so sparingly that it's tough to assess him. It seems like anymore, he'll come in and get a touch or two a game and do nothing, and then we extrapolate those limited touches and assume he'll do nothing. Maybe if he got more touches and was able to establish a little bit of a rhythm he'd get into a groove. I don't know. As others have pointed out, I think the hate of James is a little bit hyperbolic because he down own a career 4.5 YPC, which is very respectable.

It did seem like Roman was at least a little bit creative with him today. There was the traditional option play early in the game, and then we threw him a swing pass. I like the idea of him getting him into open field, that's sure as hell better than trying to have him run between the tackles.

Now all of this said, I don't want to sound like a big LMJ apologist. As I said in the preseason, I'm becoming increasingly-disappointed by his burst/acceleration, especially on kick returns. He just doesn't seem to have the burst or explosiveness I was expecting. Anyway, he's not the gem we thought we were getting out of college, but I don't also don't think he's completely worthless.

Originally posted by theduke85:
Part of the problem with LMJ is that he is used so sparingly that it's tough to assess him. It seems like anymore, he'll come in and get a touch or two a game and do nothing, and then we extrapolate those limited touches and assume he'll do nothing. Maybe if he got more touches and was able to establish a little bit of a rhythm he'd get into a groove. I don't know. As others have pointed out, I think the hate of James is a little bit hyperbolic because he down own a career 4.5 YPC, which is very respectable.

It did seem like Roman was at least a little bit creative with him today. There was the traditional option play early in the game, and then we threw him a swing pass. I like the idea of him getting him into open field, that's sure as hell better than trying to have him run between the tackles.

Now all of this said, I don't want to sound like a big LMJ apologist. As I said in the preseason, I'm becoming increasingly-disappointed by his burst/acceleration, especially on kick returns. He just doesn't seem to have the burst or explosiveness I was expecting. Anyway, he's not the gem we thought we were getting out of college, but I don't also don't think he's completely worthless.

Of course the hate for LMJ is hyperbolic...it's amazing all these personnel "experts" on here that are able to pass judgement on a dude that's rarely been given a chance to do anything, and when he did (in 2012 filling in for Hunter) he did a very good job. And while he has not shown to be a spectacular return man, he did have the game-changing return in the NE game, and last year he came in and was an instant upgrade over the golden child Kyle F-ing Williams. If people want to hate him for being a whiner, have at it...but to say they "know" he can't play is ridiculous.

And no, there was no swing pass to LMJ...HaRo don't play that, it was to the FB of course. He was given an option pitch at the sideline with defenders in his face, and one slow-developing sweep strung out and blown up by the Cowboys.

Originally posted by DelCed2486:
And no, there was no swing pass to LMJ...HaRo don't play that, it was to the FB of course. He was given an option pitch at the sideline with defenders in his face, and one slow-developing sweep strung out and blown up by the Cowboys.

You're right, I remember that now. Kaepernick overthrew Miller a little too much on the swing pass, and then James had the sweep. I must've been combining those two plays into my head or something.

Man I really wanted this guy to be good.

Too bad he isn't.

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by outside4949:
he sucks. cut him

No, no, no.

Think bigger: trade him.

for what?? who the f**k would give up anything for him. the ONLY time i will say i was wrong about roman when i used to think roman was not using him right.. james is just a f**k up and i agree with all who say IF any vet mouthed off to the media off the record it would be miss james

Someone would take him for a 7th easily. Cutting him doesn't make sense. Every team wants their Darren Sproles and someone will take him in ignorance. Either way we don't use him as he should be (screens, dump-offs) and someone will try to get that Oregon skill out him... unfortunately, he's just not good enough to be that way in the NFL.

Originally posted by DelCed2486:

Originally posted by theduke85:
Part of the problem with LMJ is that he is used so sparingly that it's tough to assess him. It seems like anymore, he'll come in and get a touch or two a game and do nothing, and then we extrapolate those limited touches and assume he'll do nothing. Maybe if he got more touches and was able to establish a little bit of a rhythm he'd get into a groove. I don't know. As others have pointed out, I think the hate of James is a little bit hyperbolic because he down own a career 4.5 YPC, which is very respectable.

It did seem like Roman was at least a little bit creative with him today. There was the traditional option play early in the game, and then we threw him a swing pass. I like the idea of him getting him into open field, that's sure as hell better than trying to have him run between the tackles.

Now all of this said, I don't want to sound like a big LMJ apologist. As I said in the preseason, I'm becoming increasingly-disappointed by his burst/acceleration, especially on kick returns. He just doesn't seem to have the burst or explosiveness I was expecting. Anyway, he's not the gem we thought we were getting out of college, but I don't also don't think he's completely worthless.

Of course the hate for LMJ is hyperbolic...it's amazing all these personnel "experts" on here that are able to pass judgement on a dude that's rarely been given a chance to do anything, and when he did (in 2012 filling in for Hunter) he did a very good job. And while he has not shown to be a spectacular return man, he did have the game-changing return in the NE game, and last year he came in and was an instant upgrade over the golden child Kyle F-ing Williams. If people want to hate him for being a whiner, have at it...but to say they "know" he can't play is ridiculous.

And no, there was no swing pass to LMJ...HaRo don't play that, it was to the FB of course. He was given an option pitch at the sideline with defenders in his face, and one slow-developing sweep strung out and blown up by the Cowboys.

I hated that play. That was the worse play call of the game to me. Unless a guy posses sub-4.3 speed I don't see how any coach can think that will work with any type of regularity at the pro level. Defenders are already trained to follow Kaep when he breaks the pocket and play contain. So of course with following Kaep, James got completely swallowed up on that play.

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by DelCed2486:

Originally posted by theduke85:
Part of the problem with LMJ is that he is used so sparingly that it's tough to assess him. It seems like anymore, he'll come in and get a touch or two a game and do nothing, and then we extrapolate those limited touches and assume he'll do nothing. Maybe if he got more touches and was able to establish a little bit of a rhythm he'd get into a groove. I don't know. As others have pointed out, I think the hate of James is a little bit hyperbolic because he down own a career 4.5 YPC, which is very respectable.

It did seem like Roman was at least a little bit creative with him today. There was the traditional option play early in the game, and then we threw him a swing pass. I like the idea of him getting him into open field, that's sure as hell better than trying to have him run between the tackles.

Now all of this said, I don't want to sound like a big LMJ apologist. As I said in the preseason, I'm becoming increasingly-disappointed by his burst/acceleration, especially on kick returns. He just doesn't seem to have the burst or explosiveness I was expecting. Anyway, he's not the gem we thought we were getting out of college, but I don't also don't think he's completely worthless.

Of course the hate for LMJ is hyperbolic...it's amazing all these personnel "experts" on here that are able to pass judgement on a dude that's rarely been given a chance to do anything, and when he did (in 2012 filling in for Hunter) he did a very good job. And while he has not shown to be a spectacular return man, he did have the game-changing return in the NE game, and last year he came in and was an instant upgrade over the golden child Kyle F-ing Williams. If people want to hate him for being a whiner, have at it...but to say they "know" he can't play is ridiculous.

And no, there was no swing pass to LMJ...HaRo don't play that, it was to the FB of course. He was given an option pitch at the sideline with defenders in his face, and one slow-developing sweep strung out and blown up by the Cowboys.

I hated that play. That was the worse play call of the game to me. Unless a guy posses sub-4.3 speed I don't see how any coach can think that will work with any type of regularity at the pro level. Defenders are already trained to follow Kaep when he breaks the pocket and play contain. So of course with following Kaep, James got completely swallowed up on that play.

I'm not even saying those are necessarily bad plays to try with LMJ...in theory you're trying to get him around the corner on the outside. But they are the type of plays if a defense is patient, keeps contain and strings it out, they're going to blow it up. Not sure how that's LMJ's fault, but the personnel experts here who sit at home stopwatches in hand, clipboard at the ready charting plays and giving grades can tell us how it is.

This pick was a huge head scratcher from the beginning.

I'm on record way back on draft day saying James was not a RB in the same mold as Sproles. You cant just take a small quick RB and make him into Sproles.

He made his living in College between the tackles, running through huge holes. He simply doesnt have the vision, strength, Stamina, or balance to be successful between the tackles in the NFL. Regardless of his measurable on paper, he is not an outside runner. Its just not who he is.

LMJ was a great college RB, but unfortunately doesnt have what it takes to be successful in the NFL.