09-06-2017, 12:21 PM
(09-05-2017, 08:27 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: The best part is the pre-season is just a taste of what the offense is capable of. Due to the fact that playbooks are intentionally limited and starters/quality back ups are removed from the game very early, you're basically seeing about 5 to 10 plays from any given player per game.
At RB, especially, the value is in repetition. There will be runs that inevitably don't go anywhere, just due to blocking and defensive schemes not creating any holes for the RB to get through. So only seeing 20 carries from Mixon is the equivalent of less than a game's worth of action once he's starting. Later in the game, I can see him breaking a lot more runs for big gains, once the defense is worn down.
I'm not sure where that tweet in this article got its data about snaps though. Bengals.com has Mixon with 20 attempts to Hill's 18. Plus, Mixon had 3 receptions as well.
http://www.bengals.com/team/stats.html
And that's corroborated on these sites as well:
http://www.footballdb.com/teams/nfl/cincinnati-bengals/stats
http://www.nfl.com/teams/statistics?team=cin
I don't think either of them got any snaps in the pre-season finale (granted, I didn't watch it because who cares about the 4th pre-season game?) so I don't know where the tweet got 23 vs 17 snaps through 3 games.
Regardless, it's obvious that Mixon is a better weapon than Hill is outside of the Red Zone. If Lewis watches the tape of his preseason, he'll see what is right in front of his face. At the very least, I expect some screens and short out passes to go to Mixon early on, as he has proven to be very good at those types of plays throughout his career.
I expect Mixon to be the premiere back in week 1. He may not be the "starter" but he will hopefully get the majority of the non red zone carries as well as several plays designed for him to shine.
Or, you know, Lewis can do what he always does and sits his rookies for far too long and we'll all be pissed. But then, if we don't make the playoffs this year and win at least 1 game, I think Lewis is out of town in January anyway, so maybe next year we get a coach who does value talent that is right in front of his face :).
Great post CJD. Agree with everything you say here. Mixon is clearly the most talented back and while Hill has looked
better this preseason he still is not near as versatile as Mixon or Gio and is a worse pass protector. Mixon will get tons
of snaps, just as much or more than Hill or Gio. He is simply too good and even Marv knows it.
