A lot has been speculated about Joe Mixon and his future with the Cincinnati Bengals. Due to having a projected $12,000,000 cap hit going into 2023, fantasy football managers have been waiting for the news to drop that the talented RB will join the likes of Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, and Dalvin Cook and reach the open market.
However, news broke Friday evening that Mixon has restructured his contract to remain a member of the Bengals through the 2023 season. What does that mean for his fantasy stock going into 2023?
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Joe Mixon’s 2023 Fantasy Outlook
After seeing the outcome for other veteran RBs, the expectation was always that Mixon would take a pay cut to remain a member of the Bengals for 2023 vs. trying to get maximum money on the open market.
However, many fantasy managers seemed hesitant to fully buy into Mixon’s top-tier fantasy prognosis this season as his ADP has consistently fluctuated from the RB12-18 range. Based on the offense that Mixon plays in, plus his projected workload, this was an incredible value.
With all doubts removed now that Mixon won’t find himself looking for a new place to play in 2023, we should see his fantasy stock skyrocket. Since the 2021 season, Mixon has averaged 19.5 touches per game, which is the sixth-highest among 68 qualified RBs.
This type of workload — along with the plentiful scoring opportunities — means that Mixon should be easily in the top-10 conversation for fantasy football RBs in 2023. There’s even room to have the discussion of whether or not he deserves to be in the top five…
If his ADP continues to remain laughably low, we shouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on selecting one of the more talented RBs in the NFL in one of the league’s best offenses.
How To Value the Backup RBs in Cincinnati
There has been plenty of hype surrounding Chase Brown and Chris Evans this offseason as players that may potentially find their way into more significant touches if Mixon were to be released by the team.
However, this news solidifies suspicions that the Bengals simply were not comfortable relying on these unproven — albeit talented — players as they look to compete with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills in the AFC this season.
We should expect both Evans and Brown to remain high-value insurance RBs for the time being that could easily see their stock increase if Mixon misses time with an injury in 2023, but we’ll need training camp and the preseason to unearth which player will be the RB2 for the Bengals.