The Oklahoma Sooners held a pro day Wednesday and Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, head coach Mike Zimmer and running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu were in attendance.
Clearly, part of the reason they were there was to see Oklahoma’s talented running back duo of Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine.
Mixon wasn’t allowed to attend the NFL Combine because of a violent act against a woman during his freshman year in 2014. More on that below.
According to ESPN’s Ben Goessling, Vikings officials met with Perine, the 5-foot-10, 235-pounder who racked up 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns as a freshman, 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore and 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns last season as a junior. His numbers decreased because his attempts went down when Mixon entered the picture.
https://twitter.com/GoesslingESPN/status/839510708635205633
Mixon rushed for 750 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2015 and boosted those totals to 1,250 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
His freshman season was spent in suspension after he punched a female student in the face and was charged with misdemeanor assault, which turned into a plea deal with one year of probation, counseling and 100 hours of community service, according to ESPN.
Character concerns exist, yet, Mixon is considered one of the top running backs in the draft, ranked fifth-best by NFL.com.
Oklahoma officials clocked Mixon’s 40-yard-dash Wednesday at 4.43 seconds, which would have ranked fourth among running backs at the Combine.
If Mixon is available when the Vikings draft, will they risk the PR nightmare that’s likely to follow him?
