Former Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon is one of several Sooners expected to be drafted later this week, when the 2017 NFL Draft unfolds in Philadelphia.
In what round and by which team are two questions that are very much up in the air as the National Football League’s biggest offseason event is in the final countdown after weeks and months of preparation and consternation by NFL team officials.
Beginning Thursday, all of the mock NFL drafts we’ve been inundated with for a number of months now will become moot as reality replaces perception and prognostication.
Unfortunately, the very talented, multi-dimensional Mixon is dogged by some very real concerns that make it very difficult to project where he might fall in the coming draft.
His number could be called anywhere from the first round all the way through to the seventh and final round on day three. And it’s not out of the question that he could go undrafted, which wouldn’t be a total surprise to some.
Mixon is a player who carries heavy baggage in the eyes of some NFL general managers and whose talents are outweighed by the serious nature of his off the field actions and the widespread public outrage and deep concern over increasing incidents of physical abuse and assault against women.
As has been widely reported, before he had played one down of football for Oklahoma, Mixon was involved in an incident in August of his true freshman season, in 2014, in which he forcefully struck a female student in the face, resulting in several broken facial bones.
A couple of months after the incident, which took place outside of a popular Norman café, Mixon entered an Alford Plea, which allows him to maintain his innocence even though there exists enough evidence for a jury to find him guilty if the case went to trial.
Mixon was given a one-year deferred sentence, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and attend cognitive behavior counseling. He was also suspended for one year from the football team.
The regretful incident shadowed Mixon for both of his two college seasons at Oklahoma. The redshirt sophomore from Northern California led the Sooners in rushing last season with 1,274 yards, was second in pass receiving and averaged close to 200 all-purpose yards per game.
With those kind of numbers, his athleticism and his high versatility, under more normal circumstances Mixon would have been a near lock as a first round selection in this year’s NFL Draft. But that’s all woulda, coulda stuff, given the unfortunate current reality.
Late last season, just a week or two before Oklahoma’s Sugar Bowl game with Auburn, video images of the 2014 incident were released to the public, and the disturbing details became even more apparent and re-incinerated an already inflamed public response.
It also brought into question, once again, Mixon’s suitability and the willingness of NFL team officials to take a risk on a player with enormous talent but well-documented, serious off-the-field behavior issues, even if just a one-time incident.
Shortly after Oklahoma’s Sugar Bowl victory over Auburn, Mixon announced his plans to forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft.
“Just look at the way people (here) talked about him (Joe Mixon), the positive impact he made on both this program and people’s lives here, his overall spirit…and the character he showed in staying.” –Lincoln Riley, OU offensive coordinator
Unlike the vast majority of draft prospects with Mixon’s skills and ability, the former Sooner running back was not among those invited to participate in this year’s NFL Scouting Combine. The reason given was a policy enacted last year that prohibits prospects from participating in the combine who have misdemeanor or felony convictions involving violence or use of a weapon, domestic violence, a sexual offense and/or sexual assault.
Mixon did get the chance, however, to impress NFL scouts with his speed and football skills at his on-campus Pro Day at Oklahoma in early March.
There are some pro football experts that would argue that Mixon’s NFL draft status might have been better had he stayed in school for another year and let more dust settle from his widely publicized, nearly three-year-old incident.
I’m not sure that would have mattered. And if he had stayed at OU for another year, there is always the risk of a serious injury that could further damage his NFL Draft status and future as an NFL player.
Several NFL teams have already gone on record saying that Mixon is not on their draft board. Whether that holds true after this weekend is anyone’s guess.
I do believe, however, that at least that many teams – and probably more – do not view Mixon’s past behavior to be prologue to how he will conduct himself on and off the field in the future.
Mixon’s name will be called in one of the NFL Draft rounds this week. He probably will not be a first-round selection, but I wouldn’t be the least surprised to see him picked as early as the second round and, most likely, before the end of the fifth.
Don’t be surprised, either, to see Mixon as the first Oklahoma Sooner to be selected in this year’s draft, ahead of fellow running back Samaje Perine and wide receiver Dede Westbrook.
Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs was a Kansas City draft pick in last year’s NFL Draft. Hill, who played one season at Oklahoma State, was a similar controversial draft selection, much like the situation surrounding Mixon, because of charges brought against him during the time he was at Oklahoma State for assault and battery against his pregnant girl friend.
There was a large public outcry locally questioning the Chiefs motives and decision making for selecting a player of Hill’s background. After an electrifying season performance and plenty of highlight-reel material by the much-maligned Hill, however, it is amazing how much the Kansas City fan base was willing to accept and forgive about his checkered past.
“Obviously the incident was terrible and is nothing you’d ever condone,” said Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley when asked by Peter King of Sports Illustrated about Mixon’s behavior since the 2014 assault incident.
“The thing I’d point to,” Riley said, “is his actions since. He’s brought so much to so many people here, and you can see the character he showed in staying…Ninety-nine percent of the population would say, ‘I’ll just cut my losses and get a fresh start.”
Peter King, who writes the “Monday Morning Quarterback” column for Sports Illustrated talks about an American Football Conference scout who said, “He (Mixon) was public enemy No. 1 on campus (at OU). You heard stories about people staring at him, taking pictures in class, the stuff you’d hear from other fan bases. Some guys (in that situation) would fly off the handle…He’s been nothing but a model citizen, a great teammate.”
There is no excuse for Mixon’s violent actions in the early morning on July 25, 2014. He cannot undo what happened, but he has since apologized publicly for his actions and has expressed his regrets personally to the victim and her family.
The former Oklahoma running back has the talent and makeup to become an outstanding player in the NFL and there is no reason to believe he could not be an upstanding, law-abiding representative of the NFL.
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Some NFL team this week is going to give Mixon that chance, and both parties should be mutually benefited by the decision.