You can cross Oklahoma RB Joe Mixon off at least one team's draft board, it appears
We’ve speculated for months now that Oklahoma RB Joe Mixon, the ultra-talented runner who was seen on video punching a woman in the face in 2014, will be drafted higher than people expect.
But there’s at least one team with a late first-round pick that reportedly has no designs on drafting the controversial player. According to Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero, who spoke to multiple people with the organization, there is a “zero percent chance” the team takes Mixon.
That would be in Round 1, Round 2 or any other round, apparently.
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The Dolphins are a team on the verge, but they apparently are not willing to bend on their scruples to take a player with first-round talent but also major character concerns. It’s not clear if this is a mandate from owner Stephen Ross or something that the Dolphins’ personnel department decided on its own.
It’s also not clear when this was decided. The Dolphins were one of many teams at Oklahoma’s pro day, but it’s not known if they met with him there or elsewhere (Mixon was not invited to the NFL scouting combine) and crossed him off their list recently or have felt this way for some time now.
Several other teams have brought in Mixon for pre-draft visits, and we stand by our assessment that Mixon will go moderately high in this draft, likely sometime on Day 1 or Day 2. The success of the Kansas City Chiefs drafting Tyreek Hill — following, frankly, more disturbing charges than Mixon’s — and Hill’s pledge to be a changed man could convince teams that Mixon, if he’s willing to change and face the scrutiny, is worth the risk.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
