Top 20 NFL Sooners, No. 17: Joe Mixon

From a troubled beginning at OU to back-to-back 1,100-yard seasons in Cincinnati, Joe Mixon is making the most of his second chance

In the past 20 years, the Oklahoma Sooners have experienced arguably their most productive era ever in the NFL Draft.

From the 2000 to 2019 drafts — the entirety of the Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley years — OU has had 95 players drafted.

Using today’s 7-round comparison, that’s more than any other two-decade era in school history. In the 1970s and ‘80s, OU had 131 players drafted, but only 88 were selected in the first seven rounds.

In the last 20 years, the Sooners have produced some historically good players. Every day leading up to this year’s NFL Draft (April 23-25), SI Sooners presents the Top 20 NFL Sooners of the last 20 years.

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No. 17: Joe Mixon

Joe Mixon certainly has made the most of his second chance at Oklahoma.

The former 5-star recruit began his college experience by punching a female student at an off-campus restaurant, was suspended for his freshman season but was not dismissed from the team and, after two spectacular seasons at OU, has become a breakout running back with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Joe Mixon with the Bengals

After rushing for 626 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie in 2017, Mixon has added to his workload with 237 and 278 carries each of the last two seasons, and has rewarded the Bengals by rushing for 1,168 and 1,137 yards, respectively.

Mixon has been just as dangerous in the passing game, catching 108 passes for 870 yards and four TDs in his first three seasons.

During a truncated college career, Mixon split carries with Samaje Perine, who became the leading rusher in school history.

Joe Mixon at OU

As a redshirt freshman playing behind Baker Mayfield, Mixon ran 113 times for 753 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 356 yards for four TDs.

As a third-year sophomore, Mixon carried 187 times for 1,274 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 37 passes for 538 yards and five scores.

The 6-foot-1, 228-pound Mixon was extremely versatile and highly skilled in all areas.

In his two seasons at OU, Mixon ran for 2,027 yards, accounted for 2,921 yards from scrimmage and scored 26 touchdowns, while also returning kickoffs for 504 yards and a touchdown and also throwing a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Mixon averaged 6.8 yards per carry as a co-feature back in Lincoln Riley’s first two seasons as offensive coordinator.

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Our Top 20 list was chosen by five voters: SI Sooners publisher John Hoover, deputy editor Parker Thune, long-time OU fan and amateur Sooner historian Anthony Jumper, OU school of journalism student Caroline Grace, and OU history and stats expert Steven Smith (aka Blinkin Riley).

The criteria was simple: former Sooners who played at OU during the last 20 years and went on to an NFL career. The rest, i.e, their NFL career, was purely subjective. Players received 20 points for a first-place vote, 19 for second, etc., down to 1 point for 20th. A total of 28 players received votes.

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