Joe Mixon good bet to land with Bengals?

The mystery of where — or if — Joe Mixon will be drafted will soon be solved, and we already know there are several teams who would not consider taking the former Oklahoma star under any circumstance. The Cincinnati Bengals are apparently not among them.

Peter King of The MMQB is reporting that Mixon has generated the most interest from the Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars. If he had to pick a favorite, King is going with Cincinnati.

“I won’t be surprised to see the Bengals take Mixon with the 41st overall pick,” he wrote Monday. “Owner Mike Brown has taken chances in the past on players with off-field issues, leaving it to the coaching staff to keep those players in line.”

When you look at all the chances the Bengals have given to troubled cornerback Adam Jones, it makes sense that they would not be scared off by Mixon’s off-field issues. Cincinnati could also use help at running back, as Giovanni Bernard has had a difficult time staying healthy and Jeremy Hill’s dominant second half during his rookie season in 2014 seems like a distant memory.

Mixon was infamously suspended for the 2014 season after knocking out a woman nearby the Oklahoma campus, breaking several bones in her face. A video of the incident was released back in December. He was also suspended last season for an incident with a parking attendant. More recently, we learned that Mixon was accused of hitting a female in high school, but that allegation was recanted.

There are few players in the draft more talented than Mixon, but any team that takes a chance on him is going to have to overlook several red flags. No one would be surprised if the Bengals are willing to take the risk.