oldschooler Posted February 9, 2018 Report Share Posted February 9, 2018 Katherine Terrell ESPN Staff Writer There's been a passing of the torch in Cincinnati. Jeremy Hill's goodbye tweet in January was a clear sign the running back is on the way out as he heads into free agency for the first time. Joe Mixon, who will head into his second season, will probably carry the load. Considering that Hill only carried the ball 37 times for 116 yards in 2017, will that much really change in 2018? It certainly could. There were a number of reasons the Bengals got off to a bad start and never recovered as they ended the season last in yards per game. One was Ken Zampese's offense; he was never able to replicate what his predecessor Hue Jackson did, and a disastrous start led to his ousting just two weeks into the season. The Bengals' offensive line was another -- the unit struggled without Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler. A rash of injuries didn't help. Only two linemen (Clint Boling and Russell Bodine), played all 16 games, and the other positions were somewhat of a revolving door all year. It didn't help that the Bengals lacked consistency early in the season. They tried to juggle three running backs between Hill, Mixon and Giovani Bernard. The insistence on putting Hill in the game for only the first series of each half didn't make sense. For Mixon's development to really take off, he needed to get the bulk of the carries without Hill around. The question now is, can Mixon improve enough to be the lead running back? The Bengals probably won't -- and shouldn't -- shy away from the two-back system with Bernard, who was woefully underused early in the season. The Bengals have the ability to get creative with the pass-catching ability between the two backs, which didn't work nearly as well when they were trying to spread the ball between three players. Mixon certainly had his share of rookie mistakes, and at times he averaged less than 3 yards per carry. He also frustrated Bengals coach Marvin Lewis when he publicly said he should have gotten more carries in the first game against the Pittsburgh Stealers. Mixon was averaging 6.86 yards per carry in the first half of the game, but the Bengals went away from the run in the second and he finished with only seven carries. Lewis said later that Mixon should show more maturity. Even with 2017's speed bumps, it's clear that Mixon, who will turn 22 next season, has shown he has the potential to take great strides next season. With a full year under offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, the Bengals might able to get off to a more stable start. If the Bengals can figure out how to use Mixon and Bernard effectively from the start, they could have a formidable tandem in the run game. http://www.espn.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/29578/can-joe-mixon-lead-the-way-for-the-bengals-in-2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted February 9, 2018 Report Share Posted February 9, 2018 Yes. Yes he can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted February 9, 2018 Report Share Posted February 9, 2018 No, no he cant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluhartz Posted February 9, 2018 Report Share Posted February 9, 2018 If lead the way means be the best running back on the team... yes but lead them anywhere...meh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalFanInTO Posted February 9, 2018 Report Share Posted February 9, 2018 I think the Bengals are a short yardage back away from having a very solid RB group. Mixon and Bernard can be effective both on the ground and in the passing game. If Lazor can find a gameplan to maximize these guys, the RBs could become the strength of the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griever Posted February 10, 2018 Report Share Posted February 10, 2018 I think Mixon can become a very dynamic back. We get our blocking scheme in order and I think we'll have a pretty good tandem with him and Gio. That being said, I agree with Fluhartz. Idk if its gonna actually take us anywhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluhartz Posted February 10, 2018 Report Share Posted February 10, 2018 1 hour ago, Griever said: I think Mixon can become a very dynamic back. We get our blocking scheme in order and I think we'll have a pretty good tandem with him and Gio. That being said, I agree with Fluhartz. Idk if its gonna actually take us anywhere... I actually think he already is a dynamic back... dude makes cuts 3 yards deep all the time to get a yard..... Build that team around him and they could be good..just a lot to do with that line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted February 10, 2018 Report Share Posted February 10, 2018 Yes, yes he can. If he has a decent O line in front of him. No, no he can't. Because our O line would have to improve to suck and Mediocre Marv is still here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saphead Posted February 12, 2018 Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 I think Marvin can '3-clap' him into being a very good running back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted February 13, 2018 Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 On 2/9/2018 at 12:40 AM, SF2 said: No, no he cant. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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