Christine Michael

[Grahamhawker]

Michael's physical skills are as good as any in the entire league. I know it sounds crazy saying that but it's true. I don't fault fans for giving up on him but he still has a chance to be special. I don't think Pete will give up on that until he is sure he won't succeed, especially with lynch possibly in his last year.

It will be almost impossible to replace lynch but like it or not Michael is one of a very small group who has the talent to possibly do that IF he can figure it all out.

This is about the way I see it. That said, I could see him keep the #3 spot, maybe even #2, or be traded or released...? Whole story has been a big question mark.

 

[purpleneer]

Some of this thread is a little ridiculous. I finally got around to watching the game and the fumble was the only negative. Not many guys would take that early touch and turn -2 into +5 so well and even his pass pro was good. Rawls was in when the O in general actually sustained something, but let's not pretend he did anything better than Michael besides the lack of a fumble.
Not trying to minimize how much a fumble hurts. Just trying to dispute what I see as faulty assessments and I also was remembering the experience with Ahman Green.

 

[chris98251]

Ahman Green was a really good back if you take away the Fumbles, in fact if you take away the interceptions Kaepernick is an Elite QB.

 

[hawknation2015]

This is a huge game tonight for Michael. You have to expect a run-heavy game plan to test the new-look offensive line and to show what Michael can do. He needs to take care of the football.

As Carroll said, “We need to play cleaner. The ball is on the ground a couple of times too many and that’s never fit in the framework of what we’re trying to get done, so we’ve got to take care of the football better and see how we play."

The ball is in Michael's court. Will he hang on?

 

[jammerhawk]

Let's wait a few more games before finalizing our opinion on Michael. There is however little doubt that he's competing for a roster spot.

 

[TheRealDTM]

Whats his cap hit/dead money? It's probably over a mil since he was a high round pick right? If we can offload him and kearse maybe we can pick up Mathis?

 

[hawknation2015]

Whats his cap hit/dead money? It's probably over a mil since he was a high round pick right? If we can offload him and kearse maybe we can pick up Mathis?

There would be very little savings from releasing Michael and replacing him with Rawls or Smith.

 

[Overseasfan]

This preseason was meant for Michael to show he's able to be a functional NFL Running Back. The situation isn't working out like that though. Rawls and Smith are both making strong cases to make the 53 man roster, while C-Mike isn't really impressing all that much.

We still have 3 games to go for him to prove he can actually become a vital part of our offense so I won't jump the gun just yet but I do have a feeling that Michael has to step up his game a bit if he wants to make the roster.

 

[Snakeeyes007]

I'm gonna go counter to the majority opinion on this thread. Michael will make the team out of camp. He is the most physically gifted/highest potential of our backs outside of Lynch, and has the ability to tilt the field. His lack of playing time doesn't equate to a lack of talent, or even a lack of belief in him by the coaches. His two primary weaknesses have been pass blocking and ball security, both of which are strengths of Turbin's, making Turbin the better 3rd down back. Michael is either your starter, or he's stuck right where he is, without a consistent role.

Rawls is a hard runner, and a serviceable backup for some team, but I don't see starter ability thus far. For one, he frequently breaks a cardinal rule for backs by dipping his head before contact. He is highly vulnerable to neck/shoulder/spine injury, and loses visibility of the field meaning he's primarily a '3 yards and a cloud of dust' style runner.

As to his fumble, and it's possible I missed it being pointed out in an above post, but he had the ball in his LEFT arm! That is a BIG change for him, and a positive one. One of the biggest complaints/concerns with him from a coaching standpoint is his inability/unwillingness to switch to the outside arm on his runs. When the ball is between the defender and the back, it is more vulnerable to getting stripped. I saw Michael switch to his left arm at least twice. I'm hoping to see this more against the Chiefs tonight.

 

[LickMyNuts]

CM threw a chip block on Dee Ford that sent him into space. Great block by CM, that is how you help neutralize a pash rusher.

 

[Grahamhawker]

I would love to see what CMike could do with about 20 carries.

 

[SeaChase]

Why keep Turbin over CM when it's obvious who has the upside?

 

[Northwest Seahawk]

Michael is in an impossible situation. When he dominates the Packer's first string defense in the preseason, folks say he played the back-ups and that he's a "preseason hero". When he fumbles in the preseason, suddenly the preseason is super important, even though Michael's regular season fumble rate is totally par. When Michael blocks poorly, that's why he can't get on the field. When he blocks well, "if that's the best you can say for him, etc."

Fact is, Michael is never put into a position to show off what he does best, which is run with the football. During the regular season, he is ONLY given runs in short yardage situations. He never gets to run on a 1st and 10 or 2nd and 5 with the 1st team offensive line--i.e., high value opportunities where his talent shines explosively. The only time he did last year was when Turbin fumbled against NY and Michael was subbed in; he immediately broke off a 50 yard run down to the goal line. He got a great hole that Turbin would have turned into 10 or 15 yards and he made it 50. That's what Michael would do regularly if he got legit touches.

IIRC, even with his sucky low value touches he led our RBs in YPC!

Obviously, Michael's days are numbered here. Whether's it's this made-up ball switching criticism or a personality conflict or whatever, he's not being played to his strengths for a reason. He's gonna run roughshod somewhere, though, where they care about actual fumble rate and value added, rather than flaws that are more imaginary than consequential. If he goes to Dallas, the numbers he puts up will be insane. They'll let him carry the ball in whichever hand he wants. Carry it in both hands, for God's sake, he'll still run further than Turbin.

Michael's the only RB besides Lynch on the team right now with enough talent to do more than just squander plays as a feature back in this system. If it weren't for the mutually reinforcing dynamic of Lynch and Wilson's legs, I shudder to think how pathetic the run game would look.

I see it just as you do. If Michael were shipped to the Cowboys tomorrow he would be one of the guys I couldn't leave a fantasy draft without.

But to be fair, it's Michael's fault that he hasn't given the haters a reason to shut up. Ball security shouldn't be as hard as he has made it, and he has too much size to struggle in pass pro. I'm not giving up on Michael at all, in fact I am seeing some slow signs of progress. I just think it might ultimately prove to be too slow.

I was just going to say if the Seahawks cut him Dallas will pick him up and he'll probably be a probowler.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Michael is a talented runner that is lacking fundamentals. If we are looking at nothing but his rushing skills he's much better than Turbin. That is a giant caveat though.... Michael continues to demonstrate poor ball control, and I notice he didn't know what the play was a couple of times. He just looks lost out there, he plays with no structure.

 

[tom sawyer]

If he wasn't Hawk worthy he wouldn't be a Hawk right now.
Just like novocaine, just give it time to work and things will be fine.
CMike is getting more settled and stable. It's cool.

 

[Jville]

He still needs to focus focus focus on every single play. But he turned in this play right after a mental mistake the play before ........
[vine]eDdTemHWY7I[/vine]

 

[titan3131]

He still needs to focus focus focus on every single play. But he turned in this play right after a mental mistake the play before ........
[vine]eDdTemHWY7I[/vine]

Wheres our rams fans so we can all slow clap it out together?

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

Just before that play I thought it looked like CM wanted a breather. I said, "man, you gotta show what you can do on an obvious passing down." So my wife and I were watching him specifically. He popped a shoulder into Ford and we both jumped back a little and said "whoaaa!"

 

[jammerhawk]

It is incredible that he still struggles with play calls after 2 seasons, but we weren't in the huddle yet he was shaking his head afterwards.. However his pass blocking has significantly improved that block on Ford was a slobberknocker. Thought he was better following blocks than Turbin and just slightly better than Rawls though Rawls had a beast mode style run that was impressive. Michael will need to improve next game and the the one after to ensure he keeps a roster slot. He looked better than the game before but looks to still need to keep working on ball security. It's going to go down to the wire and every touch and every practice is going to be key for him.

I think his cap saving if cut or traded is only $503K.

 

[drrew]

He still needs to focus focus focus on every single play. But he turned in this play right after a mental mistake the play before ........
[vine]eDdTemHWY7I[/vine]

Wheres our rams fans so we can all slow clap it out together?

Best part of this block is that he was absolutely gassed before the play. Tapping his helmet trying to get subbed out, you could tell he was struggling to catch his breath, but when that didn't happen, he got his shit together and layed a hell of a block.