Thanks to his off-field transgressions, Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon‘s draft stock is reportedly dropping, but the Eagles are among those who have him on their board, writes Jeff McLane of Philly.com. Owner Jeffrey Lurie has given team brass his blessing to consider drafting Mixon, two sources confirmed to McLane. Notably, two of the Eagles’ key decision-makers, vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and VP of player personnel Joe Douglas, spoke highly of Mixon’s abilities on Thursday. “There’s not much he can’t do,” Roseman said. “He’s incredible with the ball in his hands, you can split him out, he’s got really good hands [as a receiver], he can pass-protect, he can make people miss.” Douglas added that “a lot of people think that he is one of the top backs in this draft,” but he noted that “most teams” are considering Mixon’s character issues.
More on Philadelphia and a pair of its NFC foes:
- Speculatively, Mixon could be a possibility for the Eagles beginning in Round 2. Before debating whether to take him, they’ll have to make a decision in the opening round, where they’re slated to pick 14th. The club has come up with “probably about seven or eight scenarios” for that spot, according to Douglas, and Roseman expects to end up with a star-caliber player with that selection. “One thing I know — when we make a pick at 14, with the way our board looks right now, we’re going to all be high-fiving then, and very excited about that pick,” declared Roseman (via Les Bowen of Philly.com).
- Entering a contract year, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford could become the highest-paid player in the NFL by next offseason, though Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press argues that he’s not worth it. While Monarrez expects the Lions to cave to Stafford’s demands, he opines that the signal-caller’s age (30 next February) and zero playoff wins are among the reasons the team would be better off letting him test the market than become the league’s richest player in Detroit.
- Speaking of the Lions, general manager Bob Quinn addressed the strengths of this year’s draft Thursday, saying it’s particularly deep at running back, wide receiver, cornerback, safety and tight end (Twitter link via Tim Twentyman of the team website).
- Linebacker Sam Acho‘s one-year deal with the Bears is worth $855K, including $130K fully guaranteed, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
This Mixon thing is beyond ridiculous. The incident, singular not plural like the article implies, with him happened over three years ago when he was barely 18–literally two hours after he turned 18. Who didn’t make a bad decision at 18? He has been nothing but a model teammate and student ever since. Not to mention, the girl he hit was drunk, a racist, has multiple DUI’s and was kicked out of OU for her behavior. Not condoning what he did, but that has to come into account. Whoever gets him will get a steal. I’d love to see him on the Lions!
I’m not for banning him from the league, but I’m also tired of people trying to gloss over what he did as youthful indiscretions. He knocked the woman’s eye socket out of place. Sorry, but that’s a bit much to be defending, ever. He’ll always have to live with that, and people will always have the right to judge him from that single act because it was so messed up.
No one is glossing over anything, but I’m tired of people blatantly ignoring the woman’s role in all of this, as if she was innocently minding her own business. She harassed him and called him racial slurs for hours before she ultimately pushed him and got punched for it. How anybody can defend her actions is beyond me. The fact that she is suing him, even though she initiated the altercation, is rich to me. That’s like picking a fight with someone, getting your ass kicked and then suing them for assault.
Lions 2nd Rd
Whomever
Monarrez is a buffoon.
I’ve been a proponent of the Eagles trading back from 14… picking up the Saints 32 and 42, which allows them 3 picks 2 for defense and 1 for Mixon.
At least someone in Detroit has some sense. People thirst for QBs, but Stafford just hasn’t gotten the job done. If you’re going to pay him like that, then he’d better be delivering you places that you haven’t been, but for some reason, people give certain players a pass when they never achieve anything.
Player A: 61.9% Comp, 4.6% TD, 7.2 Y/A, 85.7 QB Rating
Player B: 61.5% Comp, 4.4% TD, 7.1 Y/A, 86.8 QB Rating
Jay Cutler is A, Stafford is B… cue the price is right bum bum ba bum music
Why didn’t you show the other stats?TDS INTs yards wins etc.. stafford is no cutler
You asked for it. Total yards don’t matter… If you throw 100 passes and I throw 125 passes, at the same efficiency rate and that rate isn’t good… just b/c you have more total yards does not mean you’re good.
Cutler – .48 Win % 3.3 INT %
Stafford – .46 Win % 2.5 INT %
INTs are, so far the only divergence.
So what are you trying to say?