Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims is the latest Bulldogs offensive lineman to hear his named called on Day 1 of the NFL draft, joining Broderick Jones, Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson, Isaiah Wynn and more in the Kirby Smart era.
With the No. 18 overall pick in Thursday’s first round, the Cincinnati Bengals landed Mims’ services in the 2024 NFL draft. Bengals fans should be happy with the pickup, as well as star quarterback Joe Burrow.
Mims isn’t hard to miss on the field. Standing at 6-foot-8, 340 pounds, Mims looks as if he was created to be an NFL tackle. Don’t let the size fool you, though, as Mims has the footwork and athletic ability to move with the speed of edge rushers in the league. In 372 career pass-blocking snaps as a Bulldog, Mims didn’t allow a single sack.
As I’m sure Bengals fans have heard by now, the only knock on Mims in the pre-draft process was the number of starts he had to his name coming out of Georgia (eight). As Kirby Smart points out here, going up against future first-round picks in practice everyday is a much more valuable barometer for pro success rather than simply starts.
“What does that matter if you’ve blocked Travon Walker, Nolan Smith, Robert Beal your whole career,” Smart said at UGA’s Pro Day. “What does eight starts matter? Would you rather have someone who started 27 games and played against nobody, or somebody who played against first-round draft picks every day in practice? I know which one I’m picking.”
Although he missed half of Georgia’s 2023 season with an ankle injury that required surgery, Mims logged plenty of playing time over his three-year career in Athens.
“He started last year for me,” Smart continued. “The year before last he started almost every game in terms of he was in the second or third series,” Smart said. “I think when you look over the history, there have been some really successful linemen that have been three-and-out that didn’t start in that window. He’s uber-talented. He works really hard. He’s really intelligent. He’s going to play a long time in the NFL.”
