Joe Mixon has plenty of reason to play with an edge in 2024.
After leading the Bengals in rushing yards and racking up over 1,400 scrimmage yards in 2023, Cincinnati traded him to Houston for a seventh-round pick in March. If that deal wasn't enough motivation, Mixon now finds himself with a darling of the AFC in the upstart Texans.
So far, he loves what he's seen and has every reason to keep the pedal flat to the floor.
"I've definitely been on a championship team before, and I know what it's like," Mixon told reporters on Friday. "I know what it takes to get there. I feel like we have -- no doubt -- we have the best talent that I've seen here in a long time. I honestly feel like the team that we have here, I know that we're ready to go and go for that long run."
Mixon referenced his Bengals' 2021 run to Super Bowl LVI, a season in which he rushed 292 times for 1,205 yards and 13 touchdowns, serving as the underappreciated running mate to Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. He posted similar numbers in 2023, proving he can still churn up yards even when he loses his top-tier quarterback.
Fortunately for Mixon, he's been sent to a situation featuring another premier signal-caller in C.J. Stroud, and a roster that is even deeper. Mixon might not have to be such a workhorse for these Texans, not with Dameon Pierce situated behind him on the depth chart, but he'll still be the lead back. And he's fully prepared to unleash his fury on opponents.
"Yes," Mixon said when asked if he felt he might finish among the top in carries in 2024. "Obviously, I feel like with the work that I put in this offseason, I trained as hard as I possibly can, honestly harder than I did ever before leading up to this moment. I feel very confident in, like I said, the role that I will have in this offense, and I'ma embrace everything that comes with it. Like I said, I did all the work in the offseason, and come season, that's when I know it'll pay off."
Should it pay off, the Texans could be in the same shoes Mixon once filled with the Bengals back in the 2021 season.
