Report: NFL executives say Joe Mixon will be second-round draft pick

Former Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon might not have to wait all that long to hear his name called this April during the 2017 NFL Draft.

Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network tweeted Wednesday that every general manager or scout he’s talked to says Mixon will go in the second round. Following up on that, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report said he’s heard the same while saying there have been multiple comparisons to Frank Clark, who was a second-round pick a couple years back by the Seattle Seahawks.

In case you aren’t up to speed on all this, Mixon missed the entire 2014 season at Oklahoma after he hit a female student so hard she suffered multiple broken bones in her face. A damning video emerged late last year before college bowl season that highlighted the brutality of the attack all the more.

Frank Clark’s situation was a bit different, though he too was accused of attacking a woman before he came out of Michigan (more on that here).

What this all tells us is that, despite the NFL’s public stance that domestic violence or anything close to it won’t be tolerated, talented players are going to get a chance to play. Mixon has been highly touted, with ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. actually saying he’s the best running back of the 2017 NFL Draft class — an absurd claim, by our measure.

Still, he was a beastly dual-threat running back for the Sooners and appears destined to become an early-round pick this spring.