Joe Mixon was as good as advertised in his debut season with the Bengals, thriving when given the chance to and in spite of a struggling offensive line and a questionable offensive game plan.
If you just focus on Mixon’s raw numbers, it wouldn’t seem to you that he shined, but if you watched the games or rewatched the tape, he was electric. All the skills and talents scouts and college fans saw in him during his stint in Oklahoma were there.
In fact, per Pro-Football Reference, almost 80% of Mixon’s carries went for seven yards or more, which is amazing considering how many times the Bengals were running from under center in first down.