The Cincinnati Bengals rolled the dice on offensive tackle Amarius Mims with the 18th overall pick, hoping they could turn the player with the highest potential in the 2024 NFL Draft into a star. While it’s too early to declare the pick a hit, Mims is already making waves this summer.
Mims, standing at 6-foot-8 and 340 pounds, is one of the biggest layers in the NFL. However, the 21-year-old comes with very little playing experience on the football field. He left the Georgia Bulldogs as a one-year starter, with only seven career starts at right tackle.
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After practicing with the Bengals for a few months, Mims made his NFL debut in the preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Across 16 snaps played, he received a 69.4 Pro Football Focus grade and earned some praise for how he looked in his first action.
“Ability has never been the question with Mims. It’s been his availability (only 8 career starts at Georgia). You hardly ever see 6-8, 340-pound OTs move as well and remain as poised as he does.”
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid in Cincinnati Bengals tackle Amarius Mims
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What fans saw in the preseason opener is just a glimpse of what Mims is doing this summer. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated highlighted Mims in his early NFL training camp takeaways, noting the rarity of an offensive lineman being the one to generate so much buzz.
“It’s rare that an offensive lineman is the buzz at training camp, but I’d say that was the case in Cincinnati—where Amarius Mims’s name was raised by everyone I talked to. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start.”
Sports Illustrated’ Albert Breer on Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Amarius Mims
Breer also noted that Cincinnati wasn’t as concerned as some other teams about Mims’ inexperience in college. That’s because Bengals scouts told the coaching staff that any problem that could arise would be lessened by Georgia’s game-like practices and the quality of talent Mims faced because he played for the Bulldogs.
So, while there is ordinarily a steep learning curve for rookie offensive linemen and even more so when they are as inexperienced as Mims, the Bengals don’t believe that will be as big of a problem. As for Mims’ potential, there remains a belief that he could develop into a perennial All-Pro offensive tackle in his prime.
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