SANTA CLARA – Frank Gore spoke at his locker Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about LaMichael James.
GORE: LaMichael is still learning. I see that he got better from when he first got here to now. I see a lot of improvement.
Q: In what areas?
GORE: Running in small spaces. He got better in small spaces. When you watch his film from college, it’s a lot of big space. The NFL is different. Early on, he had a tough time with that. Now, from when I first saw him, he’s gotten a lot better.
Q: Have you talked to him about burrowing through small spaces, or has he just observed?
GORE: I just tell him it ain’t how fast you run to a hole, it’s about being patient and how fast you can get through it. When he used to get the ball, he used to just try to use his speed. I told him he needs to let things develop and be patient. When you see it, that’s when you should be fast through the hole.
Q: Is blitz pickup the hardest thing for a young running back?
GORE: Yeah, it’s tough. It’s real tough.
Q: How did it take you before you felt comfortable?
GORE: At Miami, the running back coach said if we couldn’t block, we couldn’t play. I knew that back in college. The only thing with me was knowing who to block when I first got here. Once I got that down, I was fine.
ME: Do you think LaMichael James can give the offense what it lost when Kendall Hunter gut hurt?
GORE: I think he can help, but Kendall is a different type of player. They’re both fast, but it’s hard to tackle Kendall.
ME: Kendall is stronger right now?
GORE: Yeah.
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Gores football IQ is so impressive. The way he slows down, waits for the hole and then hits it, is something i cant get enough of. I hope he can win one with the 9ers before hes too old. I think he’ll be a great coach after he’s done
Reading between the lines: LaMike was more of a project than the 49ers thought they were getting. I love Harbaugh, but this is why you let the scouts and GM’s make the picks. I have to think Jim was all over this pick given how much LaMichael burned him at Oregon.
Are you saying Harbaugh doesnt know talent?
Not at all. They just don’t spend as much time as scouts and GM’s evaluating that talent. A GM always throws their head coach a bone and let’s them pick a few of “their guys”. Great example: Baalke and the scouts wanted Andy Dalton but Harbaugh was all in for Kaepernick. Baalke let Jim get his guy. In this case, I would MUCH MUCH rather have Kaep. Much more upside. So the argument can go both ways.
Flip side: Richard Sherman. He is the highest rated cover CB in the NFL right now with Revis out. He was a 5th round pick out of Stanford. What did Harbaugh miss?
Sherman is facing a 4 game suspension. Maybe, just maybe Jim can also evaluate character?
Mike
You make a good point, however, we don’t know if LMJ was a Harbaugh pick. Besides, its too early to know what kind of pro LMJ will turnout to be. He could take Hunter’s job for all we know.
Hunter has the ability to run inside and out. He will be greatly missed especially come playoffs.
It’ll be interesting to see what James can do at the pro level and if he is indeed the successor to Gore.
I will hate to see the day when Harbaugh shows Gore the exit door. I just hope Harbaugh uses honesty and class and humility when he does it. Naive me hopes Frank walks on his own terms.
+1
If Lmj has a good game Gore loses his starting job to a freshman.
OK, thats just silly.
it’s hard to tackle Kendall
How does Gore know that? To my knowledge, he doesn’t play D