The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to make another run to the Super Bowl after coming up just short against the Los Angeles Rams last season. Running back Joe Mixon figures to be play a big role in the Bengals success in the upcoming season.

Mixon put together arguably the best season of his career in 2021, playing a huge factor on the ground (292 CAR, 1205 YDS, 13 TD) and as a receiver too (42 REC, 314 YDS, 3 TD). Mixon established himself as one of the top running backs in the league in 2021, and that should be reflected when fantasy football gets started for the 2022 season.

Mixon finished the 2021 season as the third best running back in fantasy football, and he is going to look to improve upon his totals from last season in 2022. But how will Mixon fare as the Bengals continue to turn things over to quarterback Joe Burrow moving forward? Let's take a closer look at Mixon's fantasy football outlook as we head into the 2022 season.

Joe Mixon's 2022 fantasy football outlook

Throughout the start of Mixon's career, he has struggled with injuries on what feels like a weekly basis. He's only played a full slate of games once in his career so far, which is always a concering prospect when it comes to fantasy football. Mixon finally stayed healthy on a weekly basis for the Bengals last season, and it translated into the best season of his career.

Mixon showed what he's capable of when he can stay healthy throughout the course of a season. He is a shifty running back who can make defenders miss when he has the ball in his hands, but is also strong enough to break tackles along the way too. But will Mixon be able to follow up his strong 2021 season in similar fashion?

Let's start with an overview of the Bengals offense. Cincy now has one of the most dominant aerial attacks in the NFL, with Joe Burrow having three top tier wide receivers in Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd at his disposal. He also has a new tight end in Hayden Hurst who could be an unexpected contributor, and of course, Mixon out of the backfield too.

Cincinnati's prerogative is going to be to throw the ball as much as they can on offense. Mixon exists as a fantastic option out of the backfield, but chances are he isn't going to be a 300 carry running back. The Bengals passing attack is too good, and Mixon's injury history suggests that's likely to at least pick up some sort of short term injury at some point during the season.

On the other hand, it's also worth noting that the Bengals passing attack is good enough to make it so that Mixon doesn't have to pick up 300 carries throughout the season. Mixon averaged a healthy 4.1 yards per carry last season, partly because opposing defenses were focused on slowing down Burrow and company. There are going to be holes for Mixon to expose on the ground all season long because of that.

In the backfield, Mixon will occassionally get spelled by Samaje Perine. Perine served as a solid change of pace back compared to Mixon, and could be used whenever coach Zac Taylor wanted because he is a solid receiver out of the backfield too. Given the recent trend in the NFL to stray away from a true workhorse running back, it's a bit concerning that Perine was able to successfully spell Mixon from the lineup at times last season.

Mixon finished so high a top the 2021 running back rankings because so many of the running backs ahead of him got injured. Mixon's ability to stay healthy for most of the season allowed him to showcase his skills as one of the backs in the game. The problem is that with most of the running backs ahead of him returning to health, Mixon will probably slide a bit on many folks' draft boards.

Overall, Mixon is a top ten running back in the NFL, but it's reasonable to expect a bit of regrssion from him heading into 2022. Mixon's injury history is a bit concerning, as is Cincinnati's inclination to pass and Perine's ability to take touches away from Mixon. He figures to have a good season, but a lot of things went right for Mixon last season; counting on that to carry into 2022 is a bit of a risk.

Mixon will still be coming off the board early in most fantasy drafts, and seems like a solid mid-to-late second round draft choice. Mixon has a bit of risk associated with him heading into 2022, but when he's on the field, he's one of the best running backs in the game, making him a solid early round choice in most fantasy leagues.