The shackles are finally off of Joe Mixon with the Marvin Lewis regime finally a thing of the past and the Zac Taylor era set to kickoff for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019-20. Grossly underused in the passing game over the course of his brief career, Mixon is in line for his biggest showing since controversially breaking into the league back in 2017. With his ability to take on a burdensome load and hold onto the football, Mixon is in line to become one of the bigger producers of all 32 teams. That’s highly evidenced by the 1150.5 rushing yards linemakers at online sportsbooks expect him to produce throughout the upcoming season. That’s tied with Dalvin Cook and 150 yards in back of Saquon Barkley for the highest rushing yards in the futures market! As bad the Bengals are likely to be this season, it won’t prevent Mixon from going HAM and churning out his best campaign at the NFL level.
Total Rushing Yards: 1150.5
Offensive Philosophy
Gone is the plodding offensive scheme from the previous regime and in is a new plan of attack that’s expected to offer up more advantageous matchups and running lanes for the Bengals playmakers to take advantage of. It’s cut from the mold of the Los Angeles Rams, and that should only be music to the ears of Mixon and the rest of his teammates. The defending NFC champs ranked in the bottom third of the league in passing play percentage last season, but ranked No. 9 in rushing play percentage doing so nearly 44 percent of the time. Todd Gurley became one of the more highly clamored for running backs in fantasy football circles because of it.
Insert Mixon as the lead back of this approach, and the opportunity is there for futures market bettors and fantasy footballers to bank on a healthy return on investment. Wanting to run the ball more and ultimately pull it off successfully are two dramatically different things however, and the Bengals need to shore up the offensive line in a big way evidenced by Pro Football Focus ranking the unit No. 27 overall.
Cincinnati Bengals Football Schedule
Week 1: @Seahawks
Week 2: 49ers
Week 3: @Bills
Week 4: @Steelers
Week 5: Cardinals
Week 6: @Ravens
Week 7: Jaguars
Week 8: @Rams
Week 9: Bye Week
Week 10: Ravens
Week 11: @Raiders
Week 12: Steelers
Week 13: Jets
Week 14: @Browns
Week 15: Patriots
Week 16: @Dolphins
Week 17: Browns
Schedule Breakdown
The Bengals’ schedule currently checks in as the 12th toughest for opposing running backs. However, one of its tougher opponents happens to be a Baltimore Ravens team that’s made wholesale changes on the defensive side of the ball, so who knows what Cincy’s division rivals bring to the table on that side of the ball. The other real tough test comes a week after going into Baltimore back home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Other than that, there’s a number of mid-tier teams that ranked out average or just above defending the run a season ago. Mixon gets three euphoric matchups against Arizona, Oakland and Miami with the Raiders the best of the bunch in ranking No. 25; not good! Provided Mixon is able to avoid the nagging injuries that hindered him over the course of his first two years in the league, the schedule looks juicy and offers up the high possibility of him churning out the best season of his career.
The Bet
Though Trayveon Williams and Rodney Anderson were both picked up in the NFL Draft, Cincy’s backfield belongs to Mixon 100 percent. The former Oklahoma Sooner broke out in a big way last season rushing for 1,168 yards to lead the AFC in that department. On top of that, he never once put the pigskin on the ground by committing zero fumbles. We’re dealing with a workhorse back here that’s entering his age 22 season. With the Rams’ playbook being designated the starting point for the Bengals new offensive scheme, you can’t help but think Mixon is in line for a huge showing in 2019-20 - regardless of the Bengals likely bringing up the rear of the AFC North standings.
Keep in mind that Cincinnati put a bevy of points on the board through the first four weeks of last season before the injury bug came in and decimated the roster. In turn, it should be expected that the ‘Natti will thrive in a much more user friendly offensive attack that will only give Mixon countless opportunities to explode. If you can’t tell, I’m extremely bullish on Mixon this upcoming season and wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he led the league in rushing. With that, get in on the fun by doing yourself a solid and hit Mixon over his rushing yards prop at top rated sportsbooks.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
