With Joe Mixon, the discussion tends to quickly circle back to him punching a woman in the face back in 2014, breaking bones in that student’s face. A terrible incident, and one made more compelling by it being captured on a surveillance camera. But Mixon is going to play pro football, and when we instead start looking at what he does on the field, he looks pretty special.
I am particularly intrigued by Mixon’s ability in the passing game. He caught 65 passes for 894 yards and 9 TDs his last two years at Oklahoma. He’s much better as a receiver than typical running backs coming in.
Mixon has good hands, and once he gets the ball, good things tend to happen. He averaged an eye-popping 14.5 yards per catch last year. In this century, there have been 44 running backs selected in the first round. None of them averaged 14.5 yards per catch in their final college season.
FIRST-ROUND RUNNING BACKS, YARDS PER CATCH | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg |
2017 | Joe Mixon, Cin. | 37 | 538 | 14.5 |
2008 | Chris Johnson, Tenn. | 37 | 528 | 14.3 |
2010 | C.J. Spiller, Buff. | 36 | 503 | 14.0 |
2007 | Adrian Peterson, Minn. | 10 | 136 | 13.6 |
2011 | Mark Ingram, N.O. | 21 | 282 | 13.4 |
2003 | Willis McGahee, Buff. | 27 | 355 | 13.1 |
2000 | Shaun Alexander, Sea. | 25 | 323 | 12.9 |
2006 | Reggie Bush, N.O. | 37 | 478 | 12.9 |
2000 | Jamal Lewis, Balt. | 15 | 193 | 12.9 |
2009 | Knowshon Moreno, Den. | 33 | 392 | 11.9 |
2012 | Trent Richardson, Clev. | 29 | 338 | 11.7 |
2004 | Kevin Jones, Det. | 14 | 161 | 11.5 |
2002 | William Green, Clev. | 23 | 260 | 11.3 |
2010 | Ryan Mathews, S.D. | 11 | 122 | 11.1 |
2008 | Felix Jones, Dall. | 16 | 176 | 11.0 |
2000 | Thomas Jones, Ariz. | 22 | 239 | 10.9 |
2004 | Steven Jackson, St.L. | 44 | 470 | 10.7 |
2001 | Deuce McAllister, N.O. | 18 | 190 | 10.6 |
2006 | Laurence Maroney, N.E. | 17 | 170 | 10.0 |
2017 | Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 15 | 146 | 9.7 |
2010 | Jahvid Best, Det. | 22 | 213 | 9.7 |
2007 | Marshawn Lynch, Buff. | 34 | 328 | 9.6 |
2008 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 34 | 318 | 9.4 |
2005 | Ronnie Brown, Mia. | 34 | 313 | 9.2 |
2012 | Doug Martin, T.B. | 28 | 255 | 9.1 |
2000 | Ron Dayne, NYG | 1 | 9 | 9.0 |
2006 | Joseph Addai, Ind. | 20 | 180 | 9.0 |
2003 | Larry Johnson, K.C. | 41 | 349 | 8.5 |
2000 | Trung Canidate, St.L. | 30 | 253 | 8.4 |
2017 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 37 | 310 | 8.4 |
2004 | Chris Perry, Cin. | 44 | 367 | 8.3 |
2005 | Cedric Benson, Chi. | 22 | 179 | 8.1 |
2015 | Melvin Gordon, S.D. | 19 | 153 | 8.1 |
2008 | Darren McFadden, Oak. | 21 | 164 | 7.8 |
2016 | Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 27 | 206 | 7.6 |
2005 | Cadillac Williams, T.B. | 21 | 152 | 7.2 |
2002 | T.J. Duckett, Atl. | 12 | 80 | 6.7 |
2008 | Jonathan Stewart, Car. | 22 | 145 | 6.6 |
2006 | DeAngelo Williams, Car. | 12 | 78 | 6.5 |
2009 | Donald Brown, Ind. | 21 | 125 | 6.0 |
2009 | Beanie Wells, Ariz. | 8 | 47 | 5.9 |
2012 | David Wilson, NYG | 22 | 129 | 5.9 |
2001 | Michael Bennett, Minn. | 4 | 23 | 5.8 |
2015 | Todd Gurley, St.L. | 12 | 57 | 4.8 |
2001 | LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D. | 10 | 40 | 4.0 |
Such a stat, of course, can be influenced by the structure of the offense (and the quality of the defenses playing against them). Some of the backs on that chart who averaged over 11 yards per catch ended up being pretty lousy on passing downs. LaDainian Tomlinson, on the other hand, caught only 10 passes for 40 yards his final year at Texas Christian, and he ends up being very good. Christian McCaffrey averaged only 8.4 yards per catch at Stanford, and he should be a big threat in the passing game.
My point is only that while many don’t care for Joe Mixon and don’t think he should be allowed in the league, he’s an awfully talented guy. If not for the off-field incident, he would have been a first-round pick, and I think he’s very much in the mix to finish with better numbers than Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette.
—Ian Allan