As the Raiders wait for retired Marshawn Lynch to decide before the draft: (1) whether he wants to unretire; and (2) whether he wants to play for his hometown team, G.M. Reggie McKenzie is considering the prospects who will be eligible for selection next week.
One rookie running back has become one of the draft’s most controversial figures. But McKenzie doesn’t seem to be troubled by the prospect of picking Joe Mixon.
Via Michael Gehlken of the Las Review Review-Journal, McKenzie developed a good impression of Mixon upon visiting with him.
“We thought he was a really good kid,” McKenzie said.
Whatever they decide to do about Mixon, the Raiders will make a decision only after they have everything they need to know.
“We research everything,” McKenzie said, via Gehlken. “We get all the information.”
The latest piece of information comes from the settlement of the civil lawsuit filed by Amelia Molitor against Mixon, which was resolved with a joint statement issued by Molitor and Mixon. The outcome means that whoever drafts Mixon won’t have to worry about the distraction of ongoing litigation and, ultimately, a trial.
Whether that means the Raiders would take Mixon won’t matter until Marshawn decides what he’s going to do. And the one thing we know about Marshawn is that no one ever knows what he’s going to do, and that when he’s pressured to do one thing he often does the opposite.