Joe Mixon ranks among the top running backs in the NFL
One of the top talents to come out of Norman in recent years at the running back positions was recently named among the best backs in the pros.
Patrik Walker of CBS Sports ranked his top 10 running backs in the NFL, only one former Sooner made the list with current Cincinatti Bengal, Joe Mixon.
Mixon is entering his fifth season in the league. He would only play in six games last season before an injury shut down his season. The team would turn to his former teammate Samaje Perine to pick up the slack down the stretch. Mixon has played in 50 career games with 41 starts for the Bengals. He has 812 carries for 3,359 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. His 3.6 yards per carry last year were his lowest since his rookie year. A lot of that had to do with the lack of help from the offensive line, that same group eventually got Joe Burrow hurt.
What Walker says about Mixon…
(AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
If you think Fournette had it bad in Jacksonville…
Allow me to introduce you to Mixon, who is an insanely talented player on what was recently [literally] the worst team in the entire NFL. Sure, things are [again] looking up for the Bengals, on the heels of grabbing quarterback Joe Burrow with the first-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but Mixon has been one cooking with Crisco for quite some time now. A weapon out of the backfield as either a runner or a receiver, his last two seasons have seen him accumulate 2,888 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns.
Consider he’s done this with a carousel of questionable QB play and an overall lack of a downfield threat to take the pressure off of him — A.J. Green having been repeatedly sidelined with foot issues — and despite changes to the coaching staff in Year 3. On any given Sunday, Mixon can adapt to whatever the opposing defense gives him. If he needs to play bully ball, he’ll do it. If he needs to stretch linebackers thin with screen passes and force an imbalance in the secondary, he can do that as well.
There weren’t many bright spots in Cincinnati before Burrow landed, but Mixon has become a lighthouse for Bengals fans desperately looking for something positive to hold onto, and needs only be healthy in 2020 to rejoin Burrow (and now wideout Ja’Marr Chase) in giving opposing defenses a nightmare or two.
Mixon was named No. 10 on the list according to Walker. The top back being Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans.
