Cincinnati Bengals: Taking stock of team’s young talent

Joe Mixon

2017 stats: 160 carries, 530 rushing yards, 4 rushing TDs, 29 receptions (33 targets), 286 receiving yards, 2 fumbles (1 lost)

2017 Pro Football Focus Edge Grades (358 snaps): 80.8 overall, 80.8 rushing, 53.3 receiving, 46.0 pass blocking

Mixon has been a major talking point in regards to Cincinnati all year. Despite the grotesque off-field issues surrounding him, the Bengals continued their habit of bringing in troubled talents and not only selected him in the second round, but traded up to do so.

While those non-football problems have thankfully not been repeated in any fashion, his actual play and usage as a rookie has been a mixed bag. It took him a couple weeks to actually make any headway in a crowded rotation with Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, but starting in Week 3 he began to be the top choice in the backfield; he would pick up 30+ snaps in seven of the next nine games.

Despite the involvement, his actual production didn’t stack up all that well, however. Only once in that stretch would Mixon manage to go over 100 yards, and he would only manage to average 4.0 yards per carry or better in three games during that stretch. Following that stretch, he also ended up dealing with injuries, removing him from any time on the field for two games and limiting him in two others.

Despite the disappointments, Mixon has shown enough that he’s undoubtedly the best overall option at running back on the roster going forward. Bernard is a better pass catcher, but Mixon is passable in that regard while being a much better overall runner. Unless Cincinnati targets another runner early in the draft (unlikely), there’s no reason to think Mixon won’t rightfully enter 2018 as the runner of the present and future for the franchise.