The Bengals plan to unleash Joe Mixon on the ground and in the air

The Bengals know how valuable Joe Mixon is to their offense this season

CINCINNATI — All eyes are on Joe Burrow right now, as the Bengals rookie quarterback continues to settle in during training camp. 

The 23-year-old may be the future, but another Joe could carry Cincinnati's offense in 2020. 

Running back Joe Mixon hasn't produced like Ezekiel Elliott or Christian McCaffrey, but the Bengals believe he can be a factor on every play.

Mixon has had back-to-back 1,100-yard rushing seasons, but he hasn't had a huge role in the passing game. That could change this season. 

"He’s an all-around, complete back," offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. "He can do just about everything you need him to do. Finding ways to get him some touches in the pass game are some of the things we’ve looked at and studied ways to do it better than we did it last year. To say that’s how the game works out and we’re going to target him eight times a game, or something like that, I can’t say that right now because I don’t know. It’s kind of game by game. The more Joe touches the ball the better it is for our offense, without a doubt. All the ways we can find to get him the ball, the better it’s going to be."

Mixon had 35 receptions last season. Elliott has had 77 and 54 catches in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Going to Mixon early and often could be the key to unlocking the full potential of the Bengals' offense this season. Burrow has plenty of receivers to throw to, but considering his talent, age and health — Cincinnati should lean on Mixon this season. A.J. Green carried the offense for years, but he's 32-years-old and hasn't played in a real NFL game since Dec. 2, 2018. 

Burrow loved throwing to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire last season at LSU. Mixon has just as much, if not more talent than him. Plus, he's also bigger and faster than the former Tigers star. 

"Joe is going to play a lot because Joe is a volume carrier. He gets better as he gets more carries," Callahan continued. "As the season went along we got better getting him more touches. When he’s touching the ball 20 plus times, the total at the end of the game means his numbers are usually pretty good. He’s been very effective as far as just pure touches. Carries and catches."

Making Mixon the focal point of the offense in 2020 would make sense for the Bengals. They have a young, 24-year-old that won't surpass 1,000 career carries until late in the season. 

Mixon averaged 22 rushing attempts-per-game in the final eight contests of 2019. That should be the standard for him this season. Instead of averaging two receptions per game, that number should hopefully double in 2020. 

Unleashing Mixon will make life much easier on Burrow, Green and the rest of the Bengals offense. 

“We’re going to keep tweaking and keep adding and keep moving things around to get our guys in the best spots and give the ball to Joe and put him in schemes that he’s most comfortable with and runs well," Callahan said. "It’s always going to vary and be game by game. Some games lends you more to some pin-and-pulls. Some games are more tight zone. Some games are more wide zone. Sometimes you need some more gaps and traps and things like that. I would never limit what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it on a week to week basis.”

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