EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – OCTOBER 03: Brandon Jacobs #27 of the New York Giants runs the ball against Danieal Manning #38 of the Chicago Bears at New Meadowlands Stadium on October 3, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Brandon Jacobs was known mostly for being a huge man who played running back for the Giants. (And for being a viable fantasy football starter by virtue of his goal-line usage, which stemmed from that size.)

Jacobs hasn’t played since a short stint with the 49ers back in 2013, and it’s that stint that came up yesterday when he was on Tiki Barber’s radio show, Tiki and Tierney. Jacobs did not have kind words for then-San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh, taking him to task for what Jacobs perceived as dangerously outmoded football strategy:

“Jim, I had a lot of respect for Jim when I was there – before I got to know him. I enjoyed my time there, but we didn’t see eye-to-eye. I knew a little bit more about football than what they led on.”

“Going somewhere where they don’t have route conversions into certain coverages was just absurd. They’re just running routes in the defense, getting people killed. Size and strength is what they had, and that’s why they won. Let’s be real. They had great assistant coaches, but Jim didn’t know what he was doing. Jim had no idea. Jim is throwing slants into Cover-2 safeties, getting people hurt. That guy knew nothing, man.”

Out of all the possible Jim Harbaugh criticism, and there has been and will continue to be plenty, tacticul acumen has never really been a concern. Harbaugh certainly has an old-school-ish approach to offense, by and large, although he instituted more read-option with Colin Kaepernick than the rest of the NFL was ready for. Jacobs does offer some specific critique there, though, and that’s hard to dismiss out of hand.

Of course, Jacobs probably doesn’t hold his time in San Francisco with any great regard for any number of other reasons, either:

The one season Jacobs played with the 49ers the team reached the Super Bowl with an 11-4-1 record. He only appeared in two games for the team due to a knee injury suffered during training camp and later due to a suspension for a series of social media posts criticizing his lack of playing time.

Meanwhile, Harbaugh took the 49ers to a Super Bowl and two more NFC Championship games. Jacobs might not have liked the strategies, and if Harbaugh and the 49ers were getting players injured with playcalling and route design that’s certainly an issue, but it’s hard to argue with the results on the field.

That Jacobs never played again makes it hard to argue that he deserved more playing time, too.

[Bleacher Report]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.