Following up on his assault case, the New England Patriots have decided they won’t be considering Joe Mixon in the 2017 NFL Draft.
It’s not like the Patriots need more running backs, but being removed completely from the team’s draft board has to be worrisome for Joe Mixon. The former Oklahoma standout assaulted a woman at a bar in 2014 and was suspended for his entire freshman season.
That assault is the reason the Patriots have withdrawn their name from the running, according to ESPN. In fact, that punch he landed on a woman’s face three years ago has been the reason why other teams have been second-guessing his draftability.
This should come as no surprise that the Patriots removed him from their draft board because Robert Kraft has a zero tolerance policy pertaining to domestic abuse — which NFL teams should have.
Mixon might be one of the most talented running backs in the class, and there are some who believe he will have the best NFL career out of any of them — including Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook. However, that assault is floating over his head like a rain cloud and teams are afraid to mess with it.
During his redshirt sophomore season, Mixon ran for 1,274 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. The Patriots have a plethora of backs to do that kind of work, but you can never have too many weapons.
While the Patriots’ first pick doesn’t come until the third round — No. 72 overall — Mixon is likely to be on the board still, if teams continue to avoid him.
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What would you do in this situation? Obviously picking a guy with a checkered past isn’t the ideal situation, but if he’s made an effort to turn things around, he could be worth it. Is Mixon truly a changed person, though? Time will tell, but the Patriots are taking zero chances.