Joe Mixon Thread: 4 Year extension in Cincy

[The Red Rooster]

That said, if you drafted him for immediate production you are doing it wrong. It was obvious immediate production would not be there. The combination of a horrid offensive line, Marvin Lewis and 2 other RBs who have a role will not be overcome this year.

Yup. Youve gotta be patient with him if you took him.

[Vcize]

I'll play devil's advocate a little bit. He's getting too much of a pass on his week 1 performance. He looked really bad in week 1. If you were willing to read his scouting reports beyond the off the field incident (which seemed to be all anyone wanted to talk about for his downside) the biggest negative every scout had was his poor/mediocre vision and a lack of instincts around the line of scrimmage. That definitely showed up in week 1 bigtime. He looked completely lost without a giant truck sized hole in front of him. He was having a lot of trouble finding the same holes that Hill/Gio were finding and skirting through.

This week he looked much better, though even still his best run came to the outside. I'd like to see him to a little more work banging it up between the tackles though he was definitely improved there.

His athletic talent is undeniable. If he can put it together with good RB skills he will be truly great, but that part is still a work in progress and no guarantee. I think the biggest takeaway is that while everyone here is claiming no one was expecting anything until a few years down the line, the reality is that we were all hoping he would blow up down the stretch this year. Maybe not right out of the gates week 1, but at some point this season. Between the horrid O-line and the growing Mixon still needs to do as a player, that seems much less likely now.

[maxhyde]

Yeah I don't see much happening running in CIN with any of the 3 until the Bengals fix the OLine...same for the Texans to be honest.
Dalton is looking for who to avoid before he hits his back foot and rushing every throw hence inaccurate...messy for both teams. No idea how a smart coach like Lewis can let mgmt allow their 2 best OLinemen to walk with an unproven replacement plan and think they can compete in the NFL.
I mean early yet but looking like a lost season for the Bengals and Texans...can't believe they haven't caved to Brown yet

[flyersfan1981]

Ok...so if it isn't all on Mixon (who I don't own anywhere) and we attribute it to the offensive line, how can his owners be patient and have confidence that they can fix the offensive line?

Things are bad in Cincy and if Dalton is out and they need a new QB, things could go very badly for him with a rookie QB and a bad offensive line.

I guess the question I have for Mixon owners is...how confident are you that the Bengals can give him an adequate line to run behind, and run well?

[oppy]

I thought Mixon didn't look as good as he did in the preseasons last night, but he still managed a couple great runs and showed his power dragging Clowney around like a stuffed doll.

I feel like Cincinnati though may be done... they've looked awful so far, and that's not a good sign for what Mixon can do even if he continues to see an increase in touches. It also seems unlikely they'll turn to him as a full-time back, and while he can probably produce the best out of the teams options I don't think they'll go all-in on Mixon like I thought they might at the draft/preseason. We'll see.

[Goddard]

Reminds me of the Melvin Gordon situation his rookie year with just more competition (bad competition, but for some reason, they still keep getting snaps/touches).

He's looked fine to me on film, don't just look at boxscores. Another comparison to Gordon, who has to constantly break several tackles behind the line and push himself for extra yardage, only to end up with a 2 yard run. Looks terrible on the boxscore, but good to the eye.

[CK_]

I am not fully grasping the somewhat hate people are spewing on Mixon? Do people focus on box score and stats solely? Are people not actually WATCHING the games he has played in since the regular season? Because he by no means looks bad, he actually looked good, not great but good for sure.

If we go by the same metric by this box score that we seem to be analyzing then darn Walter Payton and Le'Veon Bell were total trash in those first few games as well guys. YPC is laughable and I would want to see how the guy actually plays and honestly Joe Mixon is the best RB on that team as a runner and pass catcher by far. I want to see him block more but he had atleast one great block last night that gave me faith in him for the future.

I would 100% rather have my running back get his lumps in now so he's going from a low point to a high point instead of be where Hunt is at right now. The only reason why I also think Marvin Lewis is being smart with Mixon right now is because they won't shut the *bleep* up about the thing that happened to Mixon 3 years ago (I believe). The reporters and broadcasters seriously need to stop talking about it ffs. I can't believe I said Marvin Lewis was smart ugh...

[balaberda]

He is my number 1 buy right now. This team is a joke and that possession where they ran Gio 3 straight times and punted should have someones head.

[brooklynkid]

I only have 1 share of Mixon but Marvin Lewis is being stubborn. I guess he wants Mixon to earn it but if that's the case why don't you start Gio and I have Mixon come in and spell him or split it half and half. Anyways Jeremy Hill is trash and I don't even know why he's playing. To be honest Gio is a luxury because Mixon can do it all. Anyways I think the Bengals need to let go of Marvin Lewis. I actually thought Dalton might ball this season because of all the weapons but with no O-line and Lewis coaching it's going to be tough sledding

[Kramer]

I actually think it's a PR issue to a degree. Every time the announcers talk about Mixon has been preceded with talk about him hitting the girl in college. I think the Bengals might be waiting for Mixon to earn the job so as to win over fans and divert attention from his past and focus it on his play. It's pretty obvious that he's the best back and extremely skilled, but they might want the casual fans to take notice of that on the field before he's the starter. It might just take a breakout game or a couple breakout runs to cross that threshold.

[cazzie33]

I drafted him with the expectations that it would be late season before he gets full run or close to it. Late game garbage points still count and it will be easier to run against prevent defense not as concerned with stopping the run. Also I figure a revamped line will take time to gel. Not expecting them to be good, just better than they are now.

Actually glad Mixon isn't taking a beating on & off the field like he would if he were getting all the touches now. I agree with the previous poster who said Marvin was smart for managing Mixon's role so far. Looking towards weeks 12-16 when only Vikings look to be a dominant defense. Even then their weakness to attack is @ LB in coverage. Mixon is almost matchup proof should he garner a decent share of the passing game role

[onetwothree]

Marvin Lewis is saving Mixon from wear and tear so that when the new coach comes in and unleashes him the new coach will reap all the benefits and be considered a genius and Lewis and Jeremy Hill will be a package deal to the Jets to replace Bowles/Forte.

Could probably ask the same question of LaFell playing over Ross...

[Never Veto1]

Lewis isn't getting fired, maybe the OC will, but Lewis is fine. Also I personally don't feel Mixon is as great as all his supporters are saying. If you drafted him before Fournette or Cook you did so based off of him being overhyped.

[CK_]

Zampese just got the axe so that worked out. Yeah I get not drafting him over Fournette and Cook. He does look good though. But if he never gets an o-line I just can't ever see him succeeding...

[Vcize]

I am not fully grasping the somewhat hate people are spewing on Mixon? Do people focus on box score and stats solely? Are people not actually WATCHING the games he has played in since the regular season? Because he by no means looks bad, he actually looked good, not great but good for sure.

To the contrary, 99% of people are blaming this on everything EXCEPT Mixon, just like 99% of people thought that he was a flawless prospect on the field and focused only on his off the field issues while ignoring the major red flags in his game on the field. The same red flags that have caused him to struggle with the touches he has gotten so far.

I have a share of Mixon so I am certainly rooting for him, and his physical talent is undeniable, but his vision kind of stinks. I'm not panicking yet and I'm not selling, but there is a bit of Trent Richardson vibe here. A guy who looked unstoppable running around in the open field for a dominant college program, but who can't quite figure out how to get through the line when there isn't a 5 yard wide hole there while the entire fantasy community blames everyone else. The holes weren't any bigger for Gio/Hill in week 1 than they were for Mixon, Mixon just wasn't able to find those holes. He did better in week 2, though his best run was to the outside where he made an amazing jump cut to put Watt on his belly (which is the kind of athletic talent we're all drooling over). I would like to see him better able to grind out those yards in the middle of the field in between the big outside runs, which is what is going to get him that extra playing time we all want for him.

He's definitely a guy I want on my dynasty teams, but too often people see an elite athlete and forget about the other half of the equation for running backs. That half is why there are so many fantasy stud RBs that aren't great athletes. And that area is one where Mixon is still struggling and needs to improve (and his scouting report was clear on this), especially since it's not looking like he's going to be getting those truck sized holes any time soon in Cincy.

If he can put it all together he will be truly great. But I'm not ready to just pass off all his struggles on the fact that he's not getting 30 carries per game behind the Dallas offensive line. He's in the situation he's in. If he wants the ball more he needs to get better at picking out those small holes because those are the only holes he's going to get in Cincinnati for the foreseeable future. Last night was a decent start, hopefully he can keep building on that.