NFL Draft Film Breakdown: Amarius Mims Perfect Fit for Cincinnati Bengals?

The Bengals have the No. 18 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Mike Santagata | Apr 12, 2024

Jan 9, 2023; Inglewood, CA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Amarius Mims (65) against the / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Cincinnati Bengals

Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims is one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Mims was a 5-star recruit that was the seventh best prospect at the national level. Despite that status, he had to sit his freshman year and all of his sophomore regular season.

He made his first start against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff and made his second career start in the National Championship Game against TCU.

Poised for a breakout season as the starting right tackle, Mims started off hot in 2023, but suffered an ankle injury that caused him to miss nearly two months. He came back and finished the season, but only started a total of eight games over his collegiate career because of that injury and lack of playing time early in his career.

Despite that lack of playing time, he may not be as raw of a prospect as most would think. Let’s dive into the film:

Where He Excels

Mims showed high end eye discipline and processing in his first start. He was rarely out of position or surprised by a stunt thrown his way. He did a great job to communicate with his left guard to make sure they were able to pass these off with ease.

Really impressed with Amarius Mims's eye discipine and work against stunts and non traditional rushes in his first career start at 19 years old.pic.twitter.com/LIFSyFGqrA
— mike (@bengals_sans) February 13, 2024

Mims comes in at nearly 6-8 and 340 pounds. His 86.75-inch wingspan and 36.125-inch arm length are both in the 95th percentile. Even his hands are in the 97th percentile. He’s a massive man and that’s something that NFL teams will covet.

Despite his massive size, Mims actually moves very well. Especially in pass protection where he seems to be a bit more confident. He can smoothly set back and change direction when necessary. He never seemed to struggle with getting out to an end in space either.

pic.twitter.com/C4RXQT9HKH
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) April 11, 2024

Mims possesses a high quality anchor that he can utilize when necessary. He not only has the anchor to sit down and absorb force, but he also understands how to redirect force on a bullrush to break the defender's leverage point.

pic.twitter.com/2sOMzq2ysq
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) April 11, 2024

His strength flashes at times with the ability to drive defenders and knock them down when he gets the opportunity. He seems to have great lower and upper body strength and also high end grip strength as well.

pic.twitter.com/vPB7bwixxz
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) April 11, 2024

Despite the lack of starts, Mims has a variety of pass sets he can utilize and generally mixes them up pretty well. He can smoothly set back with light feet or jump the defensive end to take the fight to them.

pic.twitter.com/X1jF0FJWl4
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) April 11, 2024

Areas of Concern

The elephant in the room is Mims' availability and injury history. The medical staff for any team taking him is going to take a long look at him to determine just how risky he is to take in the first round.

Once in a while, Mims seems to get overzealous and play over his skis. This can lead to bad balance and falling off his block or the inability to change direction quickly.

pic.twitter.com/HX0Y8ha6EU
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) April 11, 2024

Mims seemed to work a little bit slower in the run game than the pass game. His athleticism should have shined more in that area, but it appeared as if he was playing things a little bit slower possibly due to his comfortability in the pass game versus the run game. He should play faster as he gets more experience but this is where the rawness of his game appeared to show up.

pic.twitter.com/CWWlGNd9iw
— Walter (@Pff_Walter) April 11, 2024

Overall Thoughts

Mims is an interesting prospect and debate to be had. A five star recruit with his high level of play and room to grow should be a no doubt top 10 pick. However, the injury history and lack of playing time is most likely going to scare some teams away from taking him. He’s not as raw as you would expect, despite only making eight career starts in college. He's far from a finished product and hasn't reached his ceiling.

In pass protection, he’s smart, disciplined, and wins consistently with both his tools and his technical ability. Mims can handle speed, power, and a guy who works inside or outside with technical prowess. Mims shows high end athleticism to go with his length, strength, and technical ability in pass protection. He can vertical set, jump set, or set on an angle which gives him a variety of ways to take on his opposition.

He has a solid kick slide without putting too much weight outside of his midline and light but not choppy feet. He also can mix up his hands with independent usage, a two hand punch, and he can set his hands wide to take away the inside and outside while giving up his chest because he knows he can reset, anchor, and get those hands off of him. It’s very easy to see just how Mims could become one of the best pass protecting offensive tackles in the NFL.

In the run game, there is a little bit more projection involved. He seemed to be slightly apprehensive at times as if he may not have been sure of what he was seeing. The game is only going to get faster at the NFL level but this is something that experience and good coaching can fix. He also would lean a little bit too far forward at times which led to him falling off of his blocks and falling over. Not too many whiffs as is common for guys who lean too far forward out of their stance and/or have bad balance in general though. It seemed more like a technical issue than a natural balance issue. He has the strength and athleticism to become a plus run blocker at the next level but right now he needs a little bit of work.

Scheme Fit

Mims fits best in a system that will utilize a drop back passing game to let his pass protection chops shine. In the run game, he’s a bit of a blank slate that could fit into any possible scheme. He has the athleticism to dominate a wide zone system but the strength to work in a gap scheme as well.

Grade

First Round

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