It sounds like the Cincinnati Bengals hit on more positives than expected with the selection of Amarius Mims in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.
Not only did the Bengals find their possible right tackle of the future in front of Joe Burrow — they apparently took a rival’s top target off the board.
According to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, the Chiefs were attempting to jump up the board to take Mims, their top target:
Midway through the first round, Veach and Borgonzi began calling teams to find a trade partner that would allow them to move up more than 10 spots. The first prospect the Chiefs targeted was Amarius Mims, the tackle from Georgia. Although Mims played right tackle in college, many teams believed he had the talent to be a starting left tackle. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Mims with the 18th pick.
The Chiefs instead moved up a handful of spots to draft wideout Xavier Worthy. They then traded up in the second round to make sure they grabbed offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia.
From the writeup, it sounds like the Chiefs might’ve aspired to shift Mims to left tackle. Either way, the Bengals gained one of the top consensus-ranked offensive tackles in the class and, in the process, kept one of their biggest rivals in the conference from getting him.
These sort of draft ripple effects aren’t uncommon, but this one feels especially notable between two major rivals attempting to better protect franchise passers.
