The Cincinnati Bengals selected OT Amarius Mims with their 18th overall pick on Thursday night. Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow will have another new BIG tackle to protect him and help him with clean pockets. Amarius was a 5 star recruit out of highschool and if he had more experience, would’ve arguably been the best tackle in the draft. Only JC Latham went higher than him at his respective position. Talent wise, it’s said Amarius is better.
Injury and lack of experience (only 8 starts in college) is why Amarius Mims fell down to 18, however, he’s said to be completely healthy and ready to roll. (He had an ankle injury in 2023, but was able to return and play the team’s remaining 3 games.)
The biggest knock on his game is lack of sustainability in the run block game, which is where Frank Pollack will have to step in. He’s absolutely massive, and shouldn’t have any issues adapting to the NFL game. When he’s been in the game, he had one of the lowest pressure rates in the SEC, and one of the lowest sack %’s. He’s a physical specimen at 6’7″ 350. Perhaps the more impressive thing about Mims is his lockerroom presence – he’s said to be absolutely adored by teammates and his character is round 1 material alone. That is everything Zac Taylor has fought to keep a steady trend – drafting great humans.
How does Amarius fit on day 1?
Amarius, as posted above, will show up to camp as a depth asset on the depth chart. The Cincinnati Bengals paid OT Trent Brown $4,750,000 1 year with a $2,000,000 signing bonus to play RT for Joe Burrow. With lack of experience, even in college, it’s a given that Amarius will sit behind Trent Brown for the year that he’s signed, at least in the tackle position. There’s rumors of the Bengals using a 6 man front with Mims, and with the recent Zack Moss signing, we could see plenty of pounding the ball. The talent evaluators love the pick for the Bengals, and it’ll be up to Frank Pollack to develop him further in the run game. He has plenty of talent. I’d grade it an A- pick.
Amarius is ecstatic to be a Cincinnati Bengal. He couldn’t even speak when Zac Taylor called.
“All I could do was cry” when Coach Zac Taylor called him to inform him of the pick. “I watched Joe Burrow at LSU wishing and hoping I could block for him. Man, I just look forward to getting in and talking with the Bengals. Man, I’m so excited. Man, I feel like a little kid almost. Getting to be around someone you look up to at quarterback.”
