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Mar 4, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas State defensive end Jordan Willis speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Day 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft brought some much-needed excitement to the Cincinnati Bengals, but Day 2 may turn out to be even more important and impactful.
Coming into the 2017 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals had dire needs in a lot of spots. Their defensive line has gone from their defensive catalyst to a middling afterthought in just a couple seasons. Their offensive line was already a sieve during the 2016 season, and has since lost their best two players to free agency. The receiving group was for numerous reasons a limited group beyond A.J. Green. The running back spot was a lot stronger on paper than in reality.
Put those concerns with the relative lack of dynamic talents across the roster, and this team wasn't looking primed for anything but disappointment. That was before the draft, however. We are only three rounds in, and it appears a lot of their major problems have quickly been addressed.
I already went over what the addition of John Ross on Day 1 could mean for the offense. They didn't sit on their laurels with one early improvement though. With their second round selection, they addressed their underwhelming backfield by going out and grabbing Joe Mixon.
Jan 2, 2017; New Orleans , LA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon (25) leaps away from the tackle attempt of Auburn Tigers linebacker Deshaun Davis (57) in the second quarter of the 2017 Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Round 2, Pick 48 (via Vikings): Joe Mixon, RB – Oklahoma
This isn't quite the pick I was expecting, but it shouldn't be all that surprising. Though offensive line is surely a bigger hole, the fact is this draft just doesn't have many highly-rated guys there. It'll have to be addressed at some point, but that shouldn't make a team desperately reach out for a guy at that spot when they can pick up someone at another position who can make a more positive impact.
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Mixon may have those off-field issues attached to him, but the on-field ability can't be questioned. There's a reason that, even with video evidence of him punching a woman (and the PR nightmare inherently attached to having that guy join your team), that organizations still considered him worth an early-round selection.
His explosive running style and abilities garnered a Le'Veon Bell comparison from Lance Zierlein on NFL.com. For a team which has to face that guy twice a year, the opportunity to add someone who is anything like him as a player had to be appetizing.
Even if he comes nowhere close to that level, his skills portend to him being something the Bengals have sorely lacked at the position: a three-down back. Since 2014, they've been tied down to having to use a rotation due to the deficiencies to certain areas in the games of Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. Bernard can catch well, but taking the ball up the middle isn't in his repertoire. Hill can bang in the middle, but offers little in most other aspects.
If those two aspects were combined into one guy, they'd be a monstrous matchup. They are separate players, however, which limits that effectiveness and forces them to show their hand to a certain degree with their playcalling. Plus, while those characteristics have been there on paper, neither of the two has ever really been able to play consistently well across a full season.
Mixon isn't a perfect player, but he does at least have the ability in him to be a lead guy on a level neither of his predecessors could ever hope to be.
Joe Mixon
RB, Cincinnati Bengals
As for his off-field issues, there's few places more willing and able to open their arms to players with damaging baggage than these Cincinnati Bengals. From players like Chris Henry and Odell Thurman to Adam Jones and Vontaze Burfict, there have been few franchises that take chances on character concerns the way they do, and often they help those players become better, more mature members of society during their tenures with the team. Hopefully that is the case for Mixon as well.
Nov 5, 2016; Manhattan, KS, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys wide receiver Jalen McCleskey (1) runs away from Kansas State Wildcats defensive end Jordan Willis (75) at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. The Cowboys won 43-37. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
Round 3, Pick 73: Jordan Willis, DE – Kansas State
The move for Mixon may have been the spotlight decision, but it wasn't the only thing happening for the Bengals. Before they even selected him, they traded down from their original second round slot with Minnesota. In the process, they picked up an extra fourth-round pick. Barring more trades, they are set to have nine more picks in this draft — including three in the fourth round.
Even better: they already addressed another major need in the third round too!
Remember the middling defensive line I lamented? Well, they added an athletic beast to the mix. Jordan Willis was a guy slated to possibly go early in the second round; instead, he fell about one whole round, and the Bengals picked him up in the third.
While Willis does have some functional problems attached — most basically amount to being far too predictable — his talents should far outweigh the supposed downsides. His field and play awareness are positive, his handwork for shedding blocks is high-quality, he finishes plays, and can attack from numerous areas in an alignment.
Let me revisit his athleticism again too. Looking at Sparq scores (basically: a system of metrics originally created by Nike which bring together a bunch of different measurables to calculate the athletic potential of players into one easy-to-digest numerical value), Willis comes out as one of the best-graded players at his position-type in this entire draft. In fact, the only other EDGE (i.e.: pass rusher; a 4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB whose primary responsibility is pressuring the quarterback) player who rated higher than him was this year's No. 1 overall selection, Myles Garrett.
Takkarist McKinley, Charles Harris, T.J. Watt, Haason Reddick, Derrick Barnett, and all those other big-name pass rushing aficionados valued higher that Willis apparently was? According to Sparq, Willis has a higher athletic ceiling than every one of them.
It obviously would be foolhardy to only go by the determinations of one metric (especially one which doesn't appear to factor in the actual on-field production and ability of players), but it gives a pretty sizable snapshot of what this player could become. Take into account too that Willis was pretty impressive on the field as well, and this looks like a potential steal for the Bengals.
Before Willis was added, the defensive line for the Bengals had a couple excellent contributors (Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap) set to lead a stable of washed-up and unproven players. With him, they no longer have to rely so heavily on Michael Johnson (someone who hasn't had a good season in three years), and they could now find themselves three-quarters of the way to a dominating frontline on defense again.
Jordan Willis
DE, Cincinnati Bengals
The team still has a litany of needs to address on Day 3 (offensive line for sure, and improved depth at plenty of other positions would be welcomed), but their first three selections are a gigantic step in the right direction.
