Oklahoma's Joe Mixon didn't get first-round draft grade from NFL advisory committee

Joe Mixon did not get a first-round grade from the NFL’s college advisory committee, as he said in an interview shortly after declaring for the 2017 draft.

In fact, the University of Oklahoma didn’t submit Mixon, the talented running back who was caught on video punching a woman 2½ years ago, to the committee for evaluation, three people with knowledge of the committee’s list told USA TODAY Sports.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because applications for grades aren’t public.

Mixon’s agent, Peter Schaffer, acknowledged Friday that Mixon didn’t apply for a grade. But Schaffer said Mixon didn’t even know what the committee was and the substance of his client’s remarks to ESPN.com was accurate, based on feedback Mixon received through other agents before the two began working together.

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“I’ve since been able to confirm that with a number of teams — that from a talent evaluation perspective, he has a first-round grade,” Schaffer said. “Some teams have him as the top running back, second running back, third running back on their board.

“Whether when he was asked the question he understood or distinguished between what it means by the committee … I believe that he was 100% telling the truth, because I’ve confirmed it with multiple teams.”

Grades from the committee — a collection of high-level personnel evaluators from teams and the league’s two sanctioned scouting organizations that assesses eligible underclassmen on the field, helping them decide whether to turn pro — is irrelevant to individual teams’ scouting processes. But teams will be evaluating everything Mixon does and says in the next few months as they assess when, or if, they’re willing to draft him and accept the inevitable backlash.

According to people who have spoken with officials in the Oklahoma program, Mixon isn’t regarded as a bad kid overall. But executives with two NFL teams told USA TODAY Sports they already know Mixon won’t be on their draft boards in light of blowback from Ray Rice, Josh Brown and other cases involving violence against women.

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Some within the league believe Mixon, 20, may not get drafted at all, despite setting a school record with 2,331 all-purpose yards in 2016. On football talent alone, scouts speaking to USA TODAY Sports pegged Mixon as a borderline first-round pick in a deep running back class who’d be off the board no later than Day 2.

Each school can submit five players’ names for evaluation that yields one of three grades: potential first round, potential second round or neither (read: go back to school). The NFL says 85.8% of underclassmen who entered the draft after receiving first- or second-round grades since 2010 were drafted in one of those rounds, including 19 of 25 such players (76%) last year.

Last month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the release of the gruesome video showing Mixon breaking the woman’s jaw and cheekbone with a punch after she shoved Mixon and slapped both sides of his neck during the July 2014 incident. Mixon entered an Alford plea at the time, acknowledging there was likely enough evidence to convict him of a misdemeanor charge while still asserting his innocence. He did not serve jail time and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and undergo counseling. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said last month that, if the incident occurred now, dismissal would be the only option with Mixon.

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Mixon also was suspended one game this past season for tearing up a parking ticket and throwing it, allegedly hitting a parking lot attendant in the face. Maturity and anger management are obvious questions teams will have as they continue to study Mixon in the coming months.

Schaffer said Mixon has completed all his court-mandated requirements but continues to attend anger management classes.

Mixon was one of three Sooners underclassmen who were granted special eligibility for the 2017 draft, along with running back Samaje Perine and defensive tackle Charles Walker.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included information from The Associated Press saying Mixon pleaded guilty to assault. He entered an Alford plea to a different misdemeanor charge.

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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero

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