That was actually my view - 3 options; Mata, James or no mans land. The sensible, best of worst case was James. He’s an experienced RB & was caught doing zippo - my opinion obviously.
I’d have to watch it again, as I’ve only seen it in real time; but you have basically confirmed my opinion that Cedric was left exposed by poor team defending. He then made the wrong choice, but it probably wouldn’t have been the wrong choice if he was still playing with Jose Fonte.