Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Jeremy Hill's Fantasy Outlook After Week 3

The Cincinnati Bengals may have lost 27-24 in overtime to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field Sunday, but they finally saw signs of life from their offense for the first time this year.

Joe Mixon, in particular, showed promise in Cincinnati's first game after replacing Ken Zampese as offensive coordinator with Bill Lazor. Fantasy football owners with Mixon have reason for excitement after Sunday, while those with Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill won't be nearly as enthusiastic.

Joe Mixon

In his first two games, Mixon had 45 yards rushing and 20 receiving yards on four catches. Against the Packers, he carried the ball 18 times for 62 yards and caught three passes for 39 yards.

Given the offense's issues, the Bengals have little reason not to have Mixon maintain a similar workload until his performance drops off. Mixon can not only be an effective runner but also catch passes out of the backfield.

The Bengals have the Cleveland Browns in Week 4. Cleveland held Le'Veon Bell in check in the opening week and limited the Indianapolis Colts to 92 rushing yards in Sunday's 31-28 defeat, so the Browns aren't an overwhelmingly favorable matchup.

Still, Mixon could be worth flex status heading into next week.

Giovani Bernard

An underwhelming start to 2017 continued for Bernard as he had five total touches Sunday. He ran for 27 yards on three carries and caught two passes for 12 yards and a touchdown.

The touchdown meant solid points for anybody who started him, but Bernard's paltry yardage total dragged down his overall fantasy output all the same.

According to Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke, Bernard had the fewest snaps of the Bengals' three running backs, which is a worrying sign:

Fantasy owners shouldn't panic too much and drop Bernard altogether, but he should remain on the bench until Lazor uses him enough to make him a consistent fantasy threat from week to week.

Jeremy Hill

Hill, on the other hand, isn't even worth a spot on your bench, especially after registering 23 rushing yards and six yards on one reception Sunday.

As Bleacher Report's Ian Kenyon argued, the Bengals don't have much use for Hill as a high-volume rusher anymore:

Mixon is every bit the threat on the ground that Hill is, and Hill has never been much of a pass-catcher, so fantasy owners can't count on him getting enough receptions to make up for any drop in his rushing production.

Barring an injury to Mixon or Bernard—the former especially—Hill isn't a sensible addition off the waiver wire.