Oregon Ducks Running Back LaMichael James Dislocates Elbow in Dominant Performance

There might not be a hotter player in the country than Oregon’s LaMichael James, but a little cold water was poured on his recent streak of dominance Thursday night as he suffered a dislocated elbow in the Ducks’ dominant win against Cal.

James is a 5’9″ 195 pound speed back who plays with great toughness, but not even the toughest of the tough can avoid freak injuries like the one James suffered.

He insisted that he would be back soon, but you have to think he will be held out of Oregon’s next game at least, if for nothing else precautionary reasons. You simply cannot risk James’ health for the rest of the season, especially with the way Stanford is easily winning games right now.

The Ducks don’t play Stanford until November, but they face a tough test next week against Arizona State on national television–in Eugene.

If James is unable to play in that game, which seems likely at this point, the Ducks will rely on Freshman phenom De’Anthony Thomas, a Percy Harvin type of player who has a great future ahead of him.

This could be the end to a great streak of games for the superstar from Oregon, who has rushed for more than 200 yards in each of the last three games. Since a pretty pedestrian start in the first two games (at least in terms of running the ball), James has been more than dominant, rushing for a whopping 731 yards in the past three games with six  touchdowns on the ground.

James is having a great season and should be a first or second round pick should he choose to come out after this season. He reminds me a lot of Jahvid Best in the way that he is able to simply dominate a game with his speed, and he plays bigger than his size.