National Football League

No. 3 RB Joe Mixon Not Invited to NFL Scouting Combine

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:05 p.m. ET

Fansided, Carl Cockerham/FanSided via With the First Pick

All the top NFL prospects are expected to be at the NFL Scouting Combine. But despite being one of the top RBs of this draft class, Joe Mixon won’t be.

The 2017 NFL Draft class has some great running back prospects coming out. And Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon is No. 3 behind Florida State’s Dalvin Cook and LSU’s Leonard Fournette. But USA TODAY reported that the NFL didn’t invite him to the combine.

Last year, the NFL created a policy that prevents prospects with certain misdemeanor or felony convictions from participating in the combine. Violence, use of a weapon, domestic violence, a sexual offense and/or sexual assault fall under that umbrella.

Mixon dropped a female OU student after she assaulted him as a freshman in 2014. He was then charged with acts resulting in gross injury, a misdemeanor. Through a plea agreement, Mixon served a year of probation, counseling and 100 hours of community service.

A security video at the campus deli the incident occurred at recorded the whole thing. The deli didn’t make video public for over two years. But the video is out now so the NFL has no choice but to treat Mixon like the incident happened today.

The NFL Scouting combine is about marketing players—some already stars, some not. The NFL Draft is also a television production that markets players for stardom. So it looks like Mixon’s absence from the NFL Scouting Combine is step one toward going undrafted.

Teams market draft picks but can’t market Mixon so he likely has to earn his way. I’ve said before that it’s been a couple of years and that everyone should get a second chance. But hey, entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent is a second chance.