Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon isn’t getting much love nationally.
Despite leading the AFC in rushing yards last year over just 14 games, Mixon didn’t make the NFL Network’s top 100 players list voted on by players themselves.
Ten other running backs made that list, including Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram and James Conner. Mixon also didn’t make, for example, Pro Football Focus‘ top 10 running backs of 2019.
These are but a few interesting examples of Mixon going overlooked despite 1,168 yards and eight touchdowns on a 4.9 per-carry average, not to mention the 43 catches for 296 yards and a score.
It doesn’t sound amazing on paper, but consider:
- Mixon did his damage behind arguably the league’s worst offensive line
- He did it while Andy Dalton was lost for the year
- A.J. Green was out
- The complementary defense was on pace to be the worst of all time statistically
All this helped Mixon face eight-plus defenders in the box 16 percent of the time last year, yet he still spent almost an average of three seconds behind the line of scrimmage patiently picking and choosing his spots — those times he wasn’t immediately hit in the backfield after a handoff from a backup in bad field position.
Mixon could end up facing a similar task in 2019. He has a new head coach but Green is already hurt and the offensive line lost two starters before training camp began.
If Mixon can once again flash while leading the offense, the sample size excuse for those overlooking him will continue to shrink.
