LaMichael James being shopped..

[purguy12]

I think punt coverage team isn't that good either. Its just not the punt returner.

 

[Gold Rush 86]

I'm down from trading James and our 2nd round KC pick for a late 1st. I doubt we could pull that off but I would be stoked. Maybe we could throw in James and Baldwin lol.

 

[Pattersonca65]

That draft pick was a head scratcher for me.

 

[Gold Rush 86]

That draft pick was a head scratcher for me.

That whole draft was a head scratcher. I remember sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings watching round 1. When it was the 49ers pick I was thinking it had to be Coby Fleener or Stephen Hill. When we drafted AJ Jenkins I was just sitting there like WTF!!!

 

[MHSL82]

I'm down from trading James and our 2nd round KC pick for a late 1st. I doubt we could pull that off but I would be stoked. Maybe we could throw in James and Baldwin lol.

We could keep going to the well with them. Why not trade LMJ for two second round picks? Just kidding.

 

[Pattersonca65]

That whole draft was a head scratcher. I remember sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings watching round 1. When it was the 49ers pick I was thinking it had to be Coby Fleener or Stephen Hill. When we drafted AJ Jenkins I was just sitting there like WTF!!!

I don't watch college football so I don't really know who is good and who is not. My thought was why are the 49ers drafting a small RB in the 2nd round when they already have Kendall Hunter who was drafted a year or two before and has looked good. On top of that, under Roman the 49ers hardly throw passes to backs anyway and have little use for him other than on Special Teams.

 

[whysies]

I do think James gets a somewhat bad rap as a punt returner. I was nervous almost every time he caught the ball - and with good reason as that was always a major question mark for him - but when he did catch the ball, he was actually quite effective generating positive yards. Of course, reliability is the #1 thing I look for in a punt returner, and James certainly did not excel at that.

You might be right, but to be fair my grandma would look better at generating positive yards than Kyle Williams did as a punt returner

 

[MHSL82]

You might be right, but to be fair my grandma would look better at generating positive yards than Kyle Williams did as a punt returner

I thought it was funny that Kansas City picked him up. The next would be Crabtree. Maybe Kansas City should hire Singletary. I'm sure everyone would be happy.

 

[jayviabay]

I don't watch college football so I don't really know who is good and who is not. My thought was why are the 49ers drafting a small RB in the 2nd round when they already have Kendall Hunter who was drafted a year or two before and has looked good. On top of that, under Roman the 49ers hardly throw passes to backs anyway and have little use for him other than on Special Teams.

I think its more about the decision making by the Qb rather than Roman's offence. Kap seemed to have trust in miller and would hit him frequently in the pass game.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I think its more about the decision making by the Qb rather than Roman's offence. Kap seemed to have trust in miller and would hit him frequently in the pass game.

Different passing game to RBs, though. We rarely call screens, the types of plays James (and frankly, Hunter) would likely excel at. And when we do call them, we don't execute them well.

 

[Pattersonca65]

Different passing game to RBs, though. We rarely call screens, the types of plays James (and frankly, Hunter) would likely excel at. And when we do call them, we don't execute them well.

 

[darken65]

Different passing game to RBs, though. We rarely call screens, the types of plays James (and frankly, Hunter) would likely excel at. And when we do call them, we don't execute them well.

Very true about screens to RBs. I thought that James would be cut this season. If the 9ers can trade him that would be great news.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

The blocking for screens drives me crazy. Our OL blocks screens like a HS football team. They don't sell their blocks, they just run outside and start sprinting up the field. There are two problems with this: 1) any DL that isn't an idiot just trails them to the outside, gets behind them, and has a clear run at the RB, and 2) on the rare occasions when the DL doesn't catch on, our OL is going too fast to adjust to shifty DBs or LBs, who simply sidestep the blockers and make a tackle.

Running screens from the OL perspective seems easy, but there is a real technique to it. You have to stay in for a second and act like you're blocking but got beat. Once the DL is committed to rushing, you bail to the outside. And when you get outside you should almost jog upfield. The priority isn't getting upfield as quickly as possible; that doesn't do any good if you whiff on the defenders. The priority is putting a body on, or at least interfering with, would-be tacklers. I feel like we could be very effective running screens given our straight-ahead, power running game. But the blocking has got to improve.

 

[darken65]

The blocking for screens drives me crazy. Our OL blocks screens like a HS football team. They don't sell their blocks, they just run outside and start sprinting up the field. There are two problems with this: 1) any DL that isn't an idiot just trails them to the outside, gets behind them, and has a clear run at the RB, and 2) on the rare occasions when the DL doesn't catch on, our OL is going too fast to adjust to shifty DBs or LBs, who simply sidestep the blockers and make a tackle.

Running screens from the OL perspective seems easy, but there is a real technique to it. You have to stay in for a second and act like you're blocking but got beat. Once the DL is committed to rushing, you bail to the outside. And when you get outside you should almost jog upfield. The priority isn't getting upfield as quickly as possible; that doesn't do any good if you whiff on the defenders. The priority is putting a body on, or at least interfering with, would-be tacklers. I feel like we could be very effective running screens given our straight-ahead, power running game. But the blocking has got to improve.

Walsh was the best at setting up these plays. I miss them in the 9ers' offensive attack.

 

[-AC-]

Bob McKittrick...

 

[Jikkle]

Different passing game to RBs, though. We rarely call screens, the types of plays James (and frankly, Hunter) would likely excel at. And when we do call them, we don't execute them well.

This has always been a complete head scratcher for me as screens could be a big part of our arsenal if we actually practiced and got good at them.

And I always hated the whole "We're a power run team" in why we don't run them. So our lineman our athletic enough to pull and get to the 2nd and sometimes 3rd level of a defense but not athletic enough to setup a screen? Give me a break.

Not to get too off topic but I hope this whole past season was a wake up call to the offensive staff that we need more variety to the offense then coming up with 20 different formations to run Gore up the gut.

 

[MHSL82]

I don't remember who said it, but someone said that screens were one of the hardest blocking schemes to figure out. But it looks so easy and when it works, it really works. It might be easier for the quarterback or for the receiver, but the blockers had it hard. I don't know if the person that said that knows what he's talking about. Just repeating it.

 

[Jikkle]

I don't remember who said it, but someone said that screens were one of the hardest blocking schemes to figure out. But it looks so easy and when it works, it really works. It might be easier for the quarterback or for the receiver, but the blockers had it hard. I don't know if the person that said that knows what he's talking about. Just repeating it.

They require a lot of being in sync with each other for them to work properly and can break down easily. That's why when they work they usually work well and when they don't they get stuffed badly.

It's just something you need to practice a lot for everyone to be on the same page. It's tough on lineman because you need to get yourself to the sideline, position yourself, and you have to wait till the ball is caught before you can go.

But it's a play we need because we need to punish defenses that want to crowd and load up the box to stop Gore.

The quick hitting passing game is one element we just sorely lack in our offensive passing attack.

 

[jayviabay]

Different passing game to RBs, though. We rarely call screens, the types of plays James (and frankly, Hunter) would likely excel at. And when we do call them, we don't execute them well.

That's true. I have always been curious about, if its just the players not graspin how to execute the screen or the staff not practicing the scheme enough?

 

[Pattersonca65]

I don't remember who said it, but someone said that screens were one of the hardest blocking schemes to figure out. But it looks so easy and when it works, it really works. It might be easier for the quarterback or for the receiver, but the blockers had it hard. I don't know if the person that said that knows what he's talking about. Just repeating it.

I heard that same thing. Cant remember who it was. They said it isn't something you can halfway commit to and just run it. It is something that must be constantly practiced.