NFL opinions split on policy barring Joe Mixon, others from combine

INDIANAPOLIS — Running back prospects will be among the first players to work out at the NFL scouting combine later this week.

Yet one of the most intriguing rushers in the class, Joe Mixon, isn’t here to show off for scouts.

Mixon, who attended the University of Oklahoma, was not invited to the combine after he pleaded guilty to an assault charge stemming from an incident in which he punched a woman at a bar. The NFL instituted a policy in 2016 that bars prospects with a history of violent criminal from participating in the combine.

Some coaches and league officials have mixed opinions on the policy, feeling it hampers the ability of teams to learn information about a player with a sordid past. Others admit they understand why the NFL keeps such players away from Indianapolis.

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“When you come to the combine, it's not a right. It's a privilege to come here. With that being said, I think the NFL has set some guidelines in place with regards to player conduct, which I totally support those policies,” Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said Thursday. “There is a two-month process coming up here, and these players will get to be fully evaluated before the draft.”

Dorsey understands that process as well as anyone in the league. Last year, the Chiefs used a fifth-round pick on receiver Tyreek Hill, who was kicked out of Oklahoma State after a domestic violence incident with his pregnant girlfriend. Hill pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation and finished his college career at West Alabama. He was not invited to the 2016 combine.

But he emerged as a dynamic playmaker in his rookie year, making the Pro Bowl as a punt returner last season.

“We fully vet every player from A to Z. With Tyreek's case, we had done that. We had multiple opportunities to meet multiple people. We did really deep research,” Dorsey said.

But others view the new policy as a significant road block to the draft evaluation process.

Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn was disappointed that Mixon wasn’t invited to the combine, saying that this is supposed to be a showcase for the best players in college football. Quinn said Mixon is on his team’s draft board.

“So there’s 330-340 some-odd players here. And for him not being here because of those issues, personally I don’t think that’s real fair, because we have a lot of investigation that we want to do on him. To get him in one spot for all the teams would have been great,” Quinn said.

“I’m not part of those decisions about how guys are chosen, but I think it is a disappointment that guys like him — and there’s a few others you can put in that category — that we’re going to be chasing around in the months of March and April, and it’s really unfair to the players, to be honest with you.”

Mixon and others not invited to the combine, like Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly, aren’t just missing the chance to interview and work out for all 32 teams in Indianapolis. They are also missing the medical exams, which are often some of the most important tests players go through here. That’s the one big detriment to the league’s policy, Broncos general manager John Elway told USA TODAY Sports.

“It does make it tougher, not only on the player, but it makes it tougher on the teams, because the teams have to get the medical and all that stuff differently,” said Elway.

“But I can understand where the league is coming from. I can understand that a lot of it that the colleges don't want those kids here either because they like using this as a carrot for saying, 'You know what? Stay in line, or you're not going to go to the combine.' "

But Hill’s case should be an example that teams are willing to do the work in order to find the information they seek.

“I'm sure their agents are probably telling them that, 'Listen, Tyreek turned out pretty good.' I think if you handle yourself the right way — if you've been in trouble, and you handle yourself the right way — positive things can happen for you. I mean, we're in America, and America is forgiving to a point. But you can't go backwards, you've got to stay forward,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.

“I think most of those guys will probably have an opportunity. The coaches, and the scouts, and general managers are going to have to go to them or have them come to their facility to take care of business. I'm sure — I don't know who they are, I don't know all the guys that are out there — but I'm sure they'll get a look.”

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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones

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