I think all three of these backs have shown what they can do with anything resembling a hole or even not having to dodge tacklers in the backfield.
What was so different about his rookie year? They blocked for him.
(11-11-2017, 04:40 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: [ -> ]Haha fair point. But I hope this means Mixon gets a chance to get into a rhythm with 20-25 carries a game. Sure, this is probably the worst Oline in NFL history but no RB on this team has had a chance to truly establish a rhythm yet...
Although I guess Mixon kind of did in the first half against Pittsburgh but, y'know... He didn't do enough to earn more than 3 carries on the entire second half 
20-25 carries? He's averaging 2.9ypc, and the Bengals just had a game where they only had 27 offensive plays TOTAL. If you're not running well enough to get first downs, you're not going to get 20-25 carries, because there won't be enough plays in the game for it to happen. Unless you're proposing a gameplan where Dalton throws the ball only 5 times, and Mixon runs the ball 25 times for 50 yards.
Not to mention everyone who kept saying "20-25 carries" about Hill and now saying it about Mixon need to realize that really hasn't been a thing that happens anymore for like 4 years now. 23 carries a game is 368 carries in a full year.
The last 4 years there have been exactly 6 seasons of 300+ carries, and the ONLY one of those 6 who had at least 330 carries was DeMarco Murray in 2014. Unless you can put together the 2014 Cowboys OL (they had 2 1st team and 1 2nd team All-Pro on there that year) you're simply not going to have the bell cow workloads of old.
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Don't get me wrong, the OL is a dumpster fire and clearly the biggest problem. I am just not sold on Mixon, or on the fantasy that 20+ carries a game is some magical threshold that makes all struggling RBs better.
This makes losing Smith to the Brows worse.
Lordy how things change. Heading into 2015 could you even imagine the idea that Jeremy Hill would be replaced by a guy with a 2.9 YPC and 2 TDS after 8 games and Bengals fans would be happy? Well, happy trails Hill. We will continue to talk about how much of a bum you are while saying Mixon isn't a bum because Barry Sanders couldn't drive a semi for more than 2 yards behind this o-line.