Cincinnati Bengals End Joe Mixon's Wait, Select Him In Second Round

Joe Mixon’s draft wait wasn’t as long as some suspected. The Oklahoma running back famous more for punching a woman in the face than his on-field exploits, was selected with the 48th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Cincinnati Bengals bit the bullet and drafted Mixon, knowing full-well they’ll be facing a ton of backlash for doing so.

Purely based on talent, Mixon might have been the top running back in this year’s draft. But his off-field behavior was truly disturbing.

Mixon is 6’1″ and 228 pounds, ran a 4.45 40 at his pro day, had 21 bench reps and a 35-inch vertical. He is clearly a phenomenal athlete who knows how to play between the lines. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016 he ranked second in FBS in all-purpose yards per game (195.6) and has everything you’d want as a feature back.

Now the Bengals will have to answer questions as to why they drafted a man who violently assaulted a woman. He’s a guy who broke four bones in the face of the woman he punched and never showed remorse until the video finally went public in December of 2016. So until the incident actually looked like it would cost him money, he never showed any level of remorse.

No one is ever going to forget that incident or his reaction to it.