04-30-2023, 12:39 PM
(04-30-2023, 12:00 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: If they want to win, Mixon has shown throughout his career he is nothing but a replacement level player. He simply isn't very good. He isn't bad, to be clear. He is roughly a league average back that is grossly overpaid. I have stayed consistent with that messaging. There have been rumors of a pay cut request. I have no idea if that will end up being true but if it occurs, then his salary will at least be in line with his production. That is my primary gripe with him.
They may genuinely believe he is a great back in that coaching room but the evidence we have points to the contrary. If that is genuinely their viewpoint, I would count that as an evaluation mistake on the part of the front office. Again, he is a high volume/low efficiency player who struggles to create for himself. He is below average at breaking tackles and lacks the speed and quickness to avoid tacklers. He gets you what the offensive line gives him. If he comes out in 2023 and not only puts up efficient rushing numbers but also shows the ability to generate missed tackles at a significantly higher rate than his career average thus far, then I will gladly take it. I will count it as an outlier, but I will take it. I highly doubt that will be the case, though. If he takes a pay cut, I will also take that, but it would be nice to have a back who is able to do a bit more.
I’m not an expert and football coaching isn’t my expertise. It’s not yours either. I’ll let the staff decide that. They appear to have and I seriously doubt his popularity saved him. Bill Belichick called him the best back in the NFL a few years ago. The Carolina game and the Bills game showed he can still produce at a high level. Replacement level player? Can’t buy that. I can buy that he’s over paid. Now it appears that Dalvin Cook and Derrick Henry are too as their teams are trying to move them. It’s an evolving league for sure.
As far as the staff making an evaluation mistake they would have taken Bijan ( I know that for 1000%) They were seriously considering Gibbs. But they are likely moving on too eventually from a series of players like Tyler Boyd and Hilton and maybe Reader. It’s the business. But they were always expecting Mixon to be on the roster this coming season but no it wasn’t set in stone. This business is fluid.
Romo “ so impressed with Zac ...1 of the best in the NFL… they are just fundamentally sound. Taylor the best winning % in the Playoffs of current coaches. Joe Burrow” Zac is the best head coach in the NFL & that gives me a lot of confidence." Taylor led the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990, ending the longest active drought in the four major North American sports, en and appeared in Super Bowl LVI, the first since 1988.
