Apparently, Mixon is showing the ability and talent to be a dominant, big play star like they knew he was when they drafted him, and Mixon is showing the maturity to want to learn and grow as a player.

This Yahoo! article has me excited........ even the title has me excited because Marvin is normally not outspoken on rookies, even if he has been warming up to the idea that rookies are as NFL ready as they'v ever been.

Quote:The Bengals like what they have seen from Joe Mixon, and Marvin Lewis isn’t shy about sharing the fact that the rookie running back will get plenty of chances this season.

“His personality, his work ethic, how he comes and approaches practice every day,” Lewis said, via Geoff Hobson of the team website. “From the very first rookie camp here in Cincinnati, you felt that, but you aren’t sure because it’s a very limited exposure. Now that’s a day-to-day thing with the ups and downs in camp — being tired, being asked to run and finish every play. He likes to do that. He likes to run down that field like he is scoring a touchdown, and we are going to give him a lot of opportunities to do that. That’s just part of his makeup, and that’s good. He can never lose that. That’s the other part of it; you don’t want him to lose that. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm that he has now.”

If he has that kind of passion and enthusiasm in practice, imagine how much he'll love playing and getting in the endzone on game day.

I also love his work ethic how he's wanting to finish every play, even when he's tired. I'm hoping that his desire for the game and to go all-out rubs off on other players, particularly the line, because, if they see a guy going that hard, they'll want to block that much harder for him.

Quote:Jeremy Hill was the Bengals’ leading rusher last season, with 222 carries for 839 yards and nine touchdowns. Mixon could get more chances this season than Hill did last season. But Cincinnati wants to find out how good Mixon is at picking up the blitz, which they will start discovering this week.

“He’s very natural at the other stuff, and then he is going to get an opportunity to protect the quarterback,” Lewis said. “The rest of the stuff he does very naturally, like running or catching. But [I want to see] his pad level, and making sure his tracks are correct. Those are the things we are going to continue to evaluate and make sure he gets up to speed on and stays consistent. So far, he has been very good with that, and I don’t expect that to change.”

Sounds Marvin just wants to make sure he can pass protect but then that Hill could be an afterthought.

He can't do anything without blocking, and the line still scares me, but, if they can even be average, I think we're looking at a HUGE year from him.

ESPN wrote a similar article with basically the same substance:

Quote:CINCINNATI -- Rookie running back Joe Mixon seems to know he's good. It hasn't taken long for the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals to see that as well.

Take Tuesday, for example: In the last padded practice prior to the preseason opener Friday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mixon essentially embarrassed fellow rookie Carl Lawson, who has been no slouch during camp.

If Mixon has been the star offensive rookie, Lawson certainly has been the star defensive rookie. But Mixon got the best of him on that particular play.

Lawson, the outside linebacker, tried to follow Mixon as he rounded the corner, but he lost his footing and fell to the turf as Mixon raced down the sideline for a touchdown.

I've been very open about how excited I am about Lawson, so the fact that Mixon is making plays on him has me excited.

Then, to keep the fun in the game, Mixon did this:

Quote:Mixon took it a step further. He jogged back slowly, gave visiting fans high-fives and screamed, "Too easy!" That continued until a coach told him to get back to the sideline.

I LOVE that because he's still just having fun without being an over-the-top asshole and he even got the fans involved, which, if he's celebrating with the fans, then he'll keep playing for the fans. Doesn't seem like the troubled player with red flags that teams stayed away from.

However, Marvin wasn't there to see it, which it most likely would have pissed him off:

Quote:Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who left practice early to deal with a knee issue, wasn't there to see that.

Over the years, Lewis has made it clear he doesn't like individuals putting themselves over the team. This summer, he even said he wasn't a fan of the NFL's relaxed stance on celebration penalties.

If Marvin would have gotten mad at that, I might have rolled down to the stadium and went off because that wasn't putting himself over the team, he's just playing with enthusiasm, and high-fiving was just showing the fans that he's playing for them.

In the next paragraph, it says how Marvin pretty much hated Chad's antics, but then mentions how even he might have smiled at Mixon, which he should because that's not overly showboating or anything:

Quote:Even Lewis might have shook his head and smiled on Tuesday. What he likes to see is enthusiasm, and Mixon has that, along with a strong work ethic. Lewis hopes both of those things never go away.

I doubt that Mixon ever goes over the top but I pray that Marvin never tries to stop him from being enthusiastic and excited:

Quote:"That’s just part of his makeup, and that’s good. He can never lose that. That’s the other part of it, you don’t want him to lose that. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm that he has now. We have to continue with that because he is still a very young guy.”

The rest is just more from the above article, which there's a bit more in both, but I think I hit all the major points.

Like I said above, the blocking scares me, but let's hope that they step-it-up!

Looks like Hill has A LOT to be worried about and I'm loving Mixon!

In this two-minute clip, you see Mixon making some nice runs and showing a lot of explosiveness.

I think we have a steal here!

(Clip is from training camp.)

I'm starting to think this years running back rookie class has the potential to be one of the very best ever. Mixon here in cincy, McCaffery in carolina, Cook in Minnesota, and Fournette in Jacksonville. All could be starters for their respective teams. Including others like Kareem Hunt in KC and Jamal Williams in GB who has really opened some eyes for them. If you are into fantasy football in the least you gotta be salivating over getting one or two of these guys.

(08-11-2017, 08:01 AM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: I'm starting to think this years running back rookie class has the potential to be one of the very best ever. Mixon here in cincy, McCaffery in carolina, Cook in Minnesota, and Fournette in Jacksonville. All could be starters for their respective teams. Including others like Kareem Hunt in KC and Jamal Williams in GB who has really opened some eyes for them. If you are into fantasy football in the least you gotta be salivating over getting one or two of these guys.

For fantasy Dynasty yes, redraft, at current ADP no.

All of them either have legit competition, terrible OL or both. One might have a good season, but it would be tough for any of them to finish top 10 at RB.

(08-11-2017, 02:25 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: In this two-minute clip, you see Mixon making some nice runs and showing a lot of explosiveness.

I think we have a steal here!

I'd say we absolutely got a steal here. If he can stay healthy, the sky is the limit for Mixon. It's crazy to think about but if that video of his incident in college never came out, he'd have been a top ten pick. We should consider ourselves lucky that it takes video evidence for the masses to become truly outraged, otherwise Mixon may never have become a Bengal.

(08-11-2017, 09:15 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: For fantasy Dynasty yes, redraft, at current ADP no.

All of them either have legit competition, terrible OL or both.  One might have a good season, but it would be tough for any of them to finish top 10 at RB.

I see the following RBs very likely having a better season than the rookies:
DJ
Bell
McCoy
Murray
Howard
Zeke (EDIT - maybe not now that he's going to be suspended 6 games)
Freeman

I can also see these following RBs possibly having a better season than the rookies, but could be close:
Gordon
Ajayi
Crowell
Hyde
Gore (will those tires ever fall off?!)
Miller
Gurley

So yea, I'd be surprised if any rookie was in Top 5, but maybe one or two can squeak in the Top 10. For fantasy football sake, it's nice to see a resurgence of good RBs.

(08-11-2017, 10:11 AM)ochocincos Wrote: I see the following RBs very likely having a better season than the rookies:
DJ
Bell
McCoy
Murray
Howard
Zeke
Freeman

I can also see these following RBs possibly having a better season than the rookies, but could be close:
Gordon
Ajayi
Crowell
Hyde
Gore (will those tires ever fall off?!)
Miller
Gurley

So yea, I'd be surprised if any rookie was in Top 5, but maybe one or two can squeak in the Top 10. For fantasy football sake, it's nice to see a resurgence of good RBs.

Correct, just don't get caught on the hype train and draft LF,CM, or mixon in the 3rd round. You will likely be very disappointed.

In a dynasty they could go 1,2,3 overall (assuming the league isn't starting new and you draft only rookies or players not on rosters last year)

Mixon or fornette on the cowboys is a 1st round fantasy pick (assuming no zeke) mixon on the bengals with our OL and our tendency to play vets really scares me. I wouldn't touch him until 7. LF on jags could potentially be top 10 if bottles can be just even avaerage or slightly below and get them Into the red zone.

Mcaffery in PPr, is also legit.

So I guess it just depends on your league and rules.

If we didn't have hill mixon in the 3rd makes sense even with our OL. But i think I'd rather gurley or even Lamar miller. Both should see 200 carries easily

Great stuff Brad. As much as i am excited for Ross, Lawson and Willis....

Joe Mixon i think will open many eyes this season barring injuries, he has already opened the HC's eyes that sometimes
seem to be closed. The real thing that Marv touches on and should is the blitz pickup which Mixon was the best at of all
the RB's that went in the Draft. Hill has had his problems with picking up the blitz.

Expecting a big rookie year for Mixon and could push for OROTY.

I know he will be sharing touches with Gio primarily and Hill but this guy i think will be just too damn good to not get
the majority of the snaps and he is great at catching the ball out of the backfield.

Him showing up our other standout rookie Lawson shows a lot but i have had my concerns about Lawson's run stopping
and coverage ability so this does not surprise me. We all know Lawson is a fine pass rusher, he needs to work on these
things to really become that solid SAM backer in all aspects.

(08-11-2017, 12:10 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Great stuff Brad. As much as i am excited for Ross, Lawson and Willis....

Joe Mixon i think will open many eyes this season barring injuries, he has already opened the HC's eyes that sometimes
seem to be closed. The real thing that Marv touches on and should is the blitz pickup which Mixon was the best at of all
the RB's that went in the Draft. Hill has had his problems with picking up the blitz.

Expecting a big rookie year for Mixon and could push for OROTY.

I know he will be sharing touches with Gio primarily and Hill but this guy i think will be just too damn good to not get
the majority of the snaps and he is great at catching the ball out of the backfield.

Him showing up our other standout rookie Lawson shows a lot but i have had my concerns about Lawson's run stopping
and coverage ability so this does not surprise me. We all know Lawson is a fine pass rusher, he needs to work on these
things to really become that solid SAM backer in all aspects.

This is a factor into why Lawson fell. He was not a good run stuffer coming out of college. He really was a one-trick pony. However, the reason he's been put at LB (according to media at least) is because the Bengals want him to be more than that.
I have high hopes for Lawson as a pass rusher, but he'll need to really improve against the run and in coverage to become more than just a pass rusher.

(08-11-2017, 12:14 PM)ochocincos Wrote: This is a factor into why Lawson fell. He was not a good run stuffer coming out of college. He really was a one-trick pony. However, the reason he's been put at LB (according to media at least) is because the Bengals want him to be more than that.
I have high hopes for Lawson as a pass rusher, but he'll need to really improve against the run and in coverage to become more than just a pass rusher.

The good thing is, you can still use him as a rusher while he is developing the other skills.  And he's got the hunger, which means a lot.

(08-11-2017, 12:14 PM)ochocincos Wrote: This is a factor into why Lawson fell. He was not a good run stuffer coming out of college. He really was a one-trick pony. However, the reason he's been put at LB (according to media at least) is because the Bengals want him to be more than that.
I have high hopes for Lawson as a pass rusher, but he'll need to really improve against the run and in coverage to become more than just a pass rusher.

Exactly why i wanted Willis over Lawson in the draft. Willis is a 3 down player, Lawson is not, not yet.

Might be a more talented pass rusher Lawson or he might just want it more.

Bit surprised Willis has not shown something flashy yet, waiting to see this. Willis has all the moves. Die Hard.

(08-11-2017, 05:47 PM)McC Wrote: The good thing is, you can still use him as a rusher while he is developing the other skills.  And he's got the hunger, which means a lot.

Very true, Lawson is one physical, mean sumbitch that don't let up.

But he is also smart. He can work on his run stopping and pass coverage and be good here as well.

Look out for if or when this happens. Could be a very special player.

I'm thinking we may have really hit a home run with Mixon, hoping anyways. Glad we're finally gonna get to see him !