What It Means:

There was speculation that Mixon's absence was related to ongoing contract negotiations with the Bengals. Pelissero says there's "optimism" that Mixon will be back soon. Mixon had 100 rushing yards and/or a touchdown in six of the final eight games (102.1 rushing yards per game on 22.1 carries) last season after failing to do either over the first half of the season (40.0 rushing yards per game on 12.1 carries). He was the RB34 in half-PPR leagues entering Week 7 but managed to finish as the RB13 after the second-half flourish. The addition of Joe Burrow should boost the Bengals' offense as a whole in 2020 and help Mixon's production.

Mixon is currently the RB11 in numberFire's preseason fantasy rankings. Our models expect him to have 284.2 carries, 1,235.0 rush yards, 42.9 catches (56.4 targets), 316.5 reception yards, and 9.6 touchdowns.