Fantasy Football: 4 Things We Learned From Week 9

The Bengals Backfield is Joe Mixon's Now...But it Might Not Matter

Joe Mixon finally established himself as the workhorse back in the Bengals' backfield. The team surprisingly announced Jeremy Hill as inactive just before the game, leaving Mixon in charge.

He out-touched Giovani Bernard 17 to 2, and his 71.8 snap percentage -- which came during a game when the Bengals were losing -- was his highest mark of the season.

But that's kind of the problem. Mixon might be the best back on the team, but the Bengals are one of the worst environments for a running back right now. Per PlayerProfiler.com's run blocking efficiency metric, the Bengals have literally the worst run-blocking offensive line in the NFL. They aren't giving Mixon anything to work with.

What's even crazier than the weakness of the Bengals offensive line is how Mixon has managed to produce behind it. Of Mixon's 253 rushing yards heading into Week 9, 239 of those were yards created, or yards that came after Mixon's first evaded tackle. This metric helps isolate a running back's performance from his offensive line, and Mixon's rate of 2.34 Yards created per carry ranks third in the league.

Mixon is an electrifying back, but it might not translate into fantasy production this season. His volume finally appears to be secure, but there are too many forces working against him to make him a reliable weekly starter for your fantasy teams.