Cincinnati Bengals Could Take RB Joe Mixon Early

The Cincinnati Bengals could be the team that takes Joe Mixon early in the draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals are not happy with RBs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard these days. Word on the street is that if LSU’s Leonard Fournette is available at No. 9 overall, they will take him. But it isn’t likely that the mercurial RB will make it all the way to No. 9.

As a matter of fact, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook many not make it that far. So now, the team is mulling over the possibility of drafting controversial RB Joe Mixon of Oklahoma. Talent-wise, Mixon is probably the best RB on the board this year.

But he had the incident where he punched a woman, which is why the NFL banned him for the combine. So he had to wait until his school’s Pro Day to show his goods to the scouts. And Mixon did well at 6’1″, 228 pounds, running a 4.43 second 40-yard dash time.

That 40 time was better than Fournette, Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey. And of the three first-round running backs, only McCaffrey at 37.5 inches had a better vertical leap than Mixon (35 inches). Mixon also completed a solid 21 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.

The Cincinnati Bengals were one of the 24 teams on hand to see MIxon show out. That tells us that eight NFL teams have taken him off their boards completely. But the Bengals showed some extra interest, flying him out to meet with the Bengals coaching staff and front office.

Mixon now looks to have the best combination of size and speed among the RBs. He also has the same versatility to play the slot that McCaffrey has. And the Bengals don’t mind bringing in a guy that has a checkered past, ask Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones.

The question is what round?

He’s projected to go as high as the second round and as low as not at all.

So do the Bengals wait until the second round?

How bad do they want him?