There’s a lot of love for the Bengals first-round pick.
The 2024 NFL Draft is over, and the Cincinnati Bengals have 10 fresh faces, all eager and willing to be at least a small part of what is hopefully a Super Bowl-winning season.
Their first-round pick, selected No. 18 overall, was massive Georgia Bulldogs offensive tackle Amarius Mims. He fits the mold of Bengals tackles, as he, Orlando Brown Jr., and Trent Brown stand at 6-foot-8 and weigh between 340 and 355 pounds.
Furthermore, ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid believes he and the rest of the top five offensive tackles selected in the draft will be Pro Bowlers.
“The offensive line class will live up to the hype,” he said in an ESPN Q&A featuring himself and Matt Miller. “The first five offensive tackles drafted — Joe Alt (Chargers), Latham (Titans), Olu Fashanu (Jets), Taliese Fuaga (Saints) and Amarius Mims (Bengals) — will all be Pro Bowlers, and Alt and Fashanu will both be considered among the best in the NFL at the position. So many of the top guys landed in spots where they will become immediate starters, and this class is too good to let down.”
The Bengals won’t need Mims to start right away. They have Brown Jr. at left tackle and Brown at right tackle, both of whom were signed over the last two offseasons in free agency. However, Trent Brown has only played more than 12 games in a season twice in his career, and over the last two playoff runs, injuries to the offensive line seriously hurt their chances of winning.
Adding Mims to the mix acts as injury insurance in 2024. Ideally, Trent Brown plays every game of the season; Mims takes over for him in 2024 and, in the meantime, acts as the league’s most capable sixth lineman.
Mims already comes with rare size and strength, but he moves quicker than someone with that kind of size has any right to. I’m excited to see what Frank Pollack and two successful and similarly built offensive tackles can help mold Mims into. Hopefully the only thing wrong about Reid’s statement is which ones will be considered the top of the league at their position.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login