(10-07-2020, 07:27 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: The offensive line got a little better at run blocking and it was all Joe Mixon needed. All Joe needs is to break through the defensive line and he’s gone. It’s like watching Jim Brown. Jim was the best open field running back I’ve ever seen; even better than Walter Payton or Barry Sanders. With better blocking Joe Mixon might become that good.
Sometimes, i just gotta wonder what goes though your head, my man...
Jim Brown was a big, fast, strong, north/south runner. You're probably mistaking his many broken tackles for "open field" running.
Gayle Sayers, Barry Sanders and Walter Payton are the (tied) 3 best open field running backs in NFL history. There's no way to distinguish 1,2,3 among them. They're just that much better than everyone else.
After that, you have guys like Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, Ladanian Tomlinson and Marcus Allen (and a couple i'm sure i'm leaving out, but i'm doing this off the top of my head). Jim Brown isn't even on a list of top 10 pure, open field runners.
Mixon is good and would shine with a decent to consistently good Oline. Dunno that he'll ever be in even the 2nd level of runners though, let alone "that good".