Green Bay Packers: Should the Packers draft Joe Mixon?
By Josh McPeak
Joe Mixon is a very interesting case. Should a team give the young man a shot at an outstanding future? Should teams pass on him due to some serious incidents that cost him an entire season at Oklahoma? Those questions will be answered later this month in the NFL Draft.
Reports are the Green Bay Packers will host Mixon this week for a pre draft visit. It has many of the green and gold faithful in an uproar on social media.
Let’s take a minute and look at Joe Mixon the player.
Coming out of high school, many scouting sources had Mixon rated as the number one overall running back recruit in the nation. He eventually chose the University of Oklahoma and it seemed he would be a star right away. Unfortunately, a very ugly incident of his own choosing cost him the entire season in 2014.
During Mixon’s two seasons as a Sooner, he eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark on the ground. This past season, he ran for just shy of 1,300 yards and added 10 touchdowns. Mixon is also deadly in the receiving department. He added 538 yards for five touchdowns on 37 receptions this past season as well.
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Joe Mixon is also a very capable return option. On kick returns this past season, his 23.5 yards-per-return resulted in one touchdown and nearly 500 yards.
Mixon earned all Big Twelve honors and his 194 all purpose yards per game, were good enough for a spot in the top five nationally. On the NFL website, Joe Mixon is compared to the likes of Le’Veon Bell.
He was not invited to the NFL Combine, but turned in a very impressive Pro Day at Oklahoma. Mixon turned in a 4.43 second 40, which would have been the fourth fastest by a running back at the combine. He also did 21 reps of 225lbs on the bench press. Those reps would have placed him in the top six of the same event at the combine. Mixon’s 35-inch vertical is about 6.5” niches more than the top running back prospect Leonard Fournette.
An impressive Pro Day for a six-foot-one, 225-pound three-down back.
Many of the draft experts have Mixon rated as a first round talent. Due to his assault of a young woman, which two years later was shown to the world, he has been labeled as “risky” in the second round. He was also suspended one game this past season for an incident with a parking attendant after receiving a ticket. Mixon could easily fall far into the draft from the risk of a Public Relations fallout alone.
Joe Mixon will be an every-down back for some NFL team in the near future. What he adds to the passing game could be a huge commodity for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
Although the Packers are not one to take on character issues, it’s interesting that they are bringing Mixon in for a visit. He could add another explosive weapon to the Packers offense.
Are the fans capable of giving him a second chance? There is much more to gain in drafting Mixon and seeing his development as not only a football player, but more importantly as a man in society. With that said, his past actions are completely unacceptable, but they don’t have to define the rest of the young man’s life.
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Green Bay would be an ideal spot for that to flourish.