Why RB Joe Mixon’s Past Should Not Scare the San Francisco 49ers from Drafting Him

Breaking Down the Film

Watching Mixon play in games against Texas Tech, Auburn and West Virginia, a lot of different plays stood out. These plays highlight his different skill-sets and his innate home-run ability.

Taken from DraftBreakdown.com, the full video against Texas Tech can be seen there.

In this first play, Mixon lines up the backfield, but is matched up one-on-one against a linebacker. He easily beats him with one move and has the breakaway speed to turn it into a 56-yard touchdown:

Later in the game, Mixon shows his vision and patience on a running play. He originally goes left, realizes there’s nothing there and has the creativity to go all the way to the other side.

It ends up being a huge play that was engineering by Mixon’s vision:

Also, Mixon lays a huge stiff arm on the 250-pound Texas Tech linebacker, showing the toughness and strength that the Oklahoma RB possesses.

Mixon has a natural ability to catch the ball too, as he has soft hands and rarely drops the ball. In this play below, he runs a route from the backfield, and snags a one-handed catch easily.

Caught in stride, Mixon turns it into a touchdown:

The full video in his game against Auburn in the Sugar Bowl can be found here on DraftBreakdown.com.

Right off the bat, Mixon shows his ability to cut back and burst through the hole. Although he possesses good patience and vision, he flies through the hole when he sees it.

The play was called back for chop-block penalty:

On the other hand, his pass blocking has been hit or miss. Oklahoma typically did not have him pass block as he is a receiving threat.

But in this instance against Auburn, he just falls back and allows for the rusher to get to QB Baker Mayfield:

Mixon continues to show his burst and jets in the open field in this play against Auburn:

The Sooners’ RB also stays on the field in 3rd and short situations, shown in this clip below in a game against West Virginia:

Mixon was vital in Oklahoma’s red-zone offense and would be a much needed threat for the 49ers in the red zone: