Joe Mixon Fantasy News and Statistics

A five-star recruit coming out of high school, Joe Mixon was the top-rated running back in the Class of 2014. After a career at Oklahoma in which he displayed his explosiveness and athleticism consistently on Saturdays in the fall, he will look to make an instant impact with the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL.

With the Sooners losing Brennan Clay to graduation, there was a chance Mixon could come in and establish himself as the team’s primary running back if all went well as a freshman. But it did not. Instead of competing for the job, Mixon was suspended for the entire season before it even started. He knocked a woman out during an altercation in a restaurant and was charged with misdemeanor assault. OU did not kick him off the team, however; the Sooners redshirted him, and he was allowed to return to the team once he had completed his community service hours.

Although Samaje Perine capitalized on the opportunity for significant playing time at running back in 2014, leaving Mixon at No. 2 on the depth chart, the redshirt freshman did shine when given the opportunity. In his first college football game, Mixon had a 76-yard reception to set the record for a Sooners running back. That resulted in a 100-yard receiving day for him. It would not be until late October that he made a significant impact again, though; he picked up 154 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns in his team’s 63-27 blowout win over Texas Tech.

Despite his successes, Mixon was used seldomly in his team’s Orange Bowl loss to Clemson. On the year, however, he averaged 6.7 yards per carry and ran for 753 yards.

Thanks to his solid play during his freshman campaign, Mixon ended up splitting time almost equally with Perine in 2016. In the second game of the season, he ran for 117 yards on 13 carries in his team’s blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe. His true standout effort came a week later once again against Texas Tech. This time, Perine was out, so Mixon picked up 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 31 carries. He capped off his college career with a 91-yard, two-touchdown performance on the ground in his team’s Sugar Bowl win over Auburn.

Even with two years of eligibility remaining, Mixon decided he was done with college football and wanted to play at the next level. For his OU career, he ran for over 2,000 yards in his two seasons while averaging about 6.8 yards per carry. He added over 500 receiving yards as a redshirt sophomore.

However, Mixon’s past caught up to him and he was not invited to the NFL Combine. He was considered a first-round talent, but his 2014 assault incident scared many teams away. A lot of franchises ended up taking him off their draft boards completely. The Bengals watched him at Pro Day and decided his talent was too much to pass up, so they spoke with him and selected him in the second round of this past NFL Draft.

Cincinnati's primary running back in 2016, Jeremy Hill, averaged less than 3.7 yards per carry on 445 rushes combined in 2015-16. So it is possible that Mixon ends up winning the starting job for his team in 2017, even if it is not right away. Mixon’s versatility makes him an intriguing option for the Bengals.