With the No. 18 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft the Cincinnati Bengals selected Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims.
Mims stands at a massive 6-foot-7, 340 pounds, and his job will be to protect QB Joe Burrow, who is coming off a season-ending injury.
Last season, Burrow suffered a wrist injury in Week 11 that required surgery and resulted in the Bengals missing the playoffs for the first time since his rookie year.
Cincinnati’s top priority is to keep Burrow up right and avoid missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
The Alabama product should be able to do just that after not allowing a single QB hit or sack on 377 pass-blocking snaps in his collegiate career, per Pro Football Focus.
Mims does come at a bit of a risk, however, with a clear lack of experience. During his time at Georgia, he had just eight career starts and played only 802 total snaps.
Thanks to the Bengals’ addition of veteran offensive tackle Trent Brown in free agency, Mims won’t need to start from Day 1.
That is exactly why head coach Zac Taylor believes Cincinnati was Mims’ best landing spot.
“The potential that this guy’s got, we were excited that he was there at 18. We think we’re a great fit for him with acquiring Trent and Orlando, two veterans that can help with his processing,” Taylor told reporters. “We were just really excited that he was there at 18 and we get to have him in the mix.”
Zac Taylor and Dan Pitcher thrilled to have Amarius Mims pic.twitter.com/4HwNDieeck
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) April 26, 2024
The Bengals were smart to grab Mims when they had the chance. There was a run on the offensive tackle position, and Mims became the fifth one to come off the board.
The Bengals are certainly taking a chance on Mims, but they could look back in a few years and say they landed the best offensive lineman in the draft in the middle of the first round.
