It appears that when it comes to football, talent trumps all. The Cincinnati Bengals have selected running back Joe Mixon with the 16th pick in the 2nd round.
The Broncos, who came into the day with the 19th pick in the second round (51st overall) will have to look elsewhere to address the running back position.
Mixon joins running backs Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill in the Bengals backfield, in an offense led by quarterback Andy Dalton.
Joe Mixon was a star at Oklahoma, totaling 1,274 yards from scrimmage to go with 15 total touchdowns. At 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, Mixon is a rare combination of size, speed and natural ability that makes him a special athlete coming out of college.
Based on talent alone, Mixon was in conversation of being the best running back in the draft. Unfortunately, Mixon’s behavior off the field has very much overshadowed his elite football talent.
Mixon was suspended for the entire 2014 college football season for assaulting a woman by hitting her in the face. The entire incident was caught on surveillance camera. In 2016, Mixon was suspended for one game due to an incident involving another assault over a parking citation.
Due to his off-field behavior, it was unlikely that any team was going to take him in the first round. Some teams even removed him from their draft boards completely.
The Broncos hosted Mixon for a pre-draft visit back in March and when asked about the visit, all general manager John Elway said was, “We had a good meeting with him. There’s no question.” Elway also refused to say whether Mixon was on the Broncos draft board.
Despite the NFL’s stronger stance against violence, especially on women, Mixon’s talent was enough for the Bengals to take him in the second round.