Expect the Bengals to opt for preference over consensus when drafting an offensive tackle
The NFL Draft defies our expectations on a yearly basis. Some players fall far while others go off the board before any mock draft predicts. Even in the first round, surprises are all too common. Watching the Cincinnati Bengals select an offensive tackle with the 18th overall pick will not be a surprise to anyone. […]
The NFL Draft defies our expectations on a yearly basis. Some players fall far while others go off the board before any mock draft predicts. Even in the first round, surprises are all too common.
Watching the Cincinnati Bengals select an offensive tackle with the 18th overall pick will not be a surprise to anyone. They have a clear long-term need at right tackle, and an equally clear history of investing first-round picks at the position.
What might come as a surprise is the right tackle they pick, even with multiple options at their disposal.
Making the obvious case for Amarius Mims
A to Z Sports' first-round mock draft recently dropped, and it had the the top three prototype right tackles available for the Bengals to draft: Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga, Alabama's JC Latham, and Georgia's Amarius Mims.
Defensive tackle Byron Murphy II out of Texas was off the board, as were the top cornerbacks and wide receivers. This is the scenario in which the Bengals will absolutely take a tackle, but which one?
Conventional wisdom would tell you Fuaga or Latham would be the pick. They both are rated higher than Mims on the Consensus Big Board, and have more starting experience than Mims without any injury concerns hovering over their profiles.
Despite all that, as the decision-maker for the Bengals in this mock, I went with Mims. The reasoning is very simple:
"The Bengals clearly have a type at offensive tackle. They now employ the two largest players at the position in Orlando Brown Jr. and Trent Brown. There isn’t a better situation for the 21-year old Mims to come in and learn from veterans built exactly like him. He’s also an elite athlete for his size, giving the Bengals a needed boost against the fearsome AFC North pass rushers they face every year."
Preferred size
Mims is an absolute unit, and I mean that as literally as I possibly can. He measured in at a staggering 6-8 and 340 pounds with 36.25" arms and 11.25" hands at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Fuaga and Latham certainly aren't small, with the former boasting a 6-6, 324 frame and the latter at 6-6, 342, but Mims is a splitting image of the bookend tackles currently on the Bengals' roster.
Orlando Brown Jr. (6-8, 345) and Trent Brown (6-8, 355) each found themselves in Cincinnati rather surprisingly following their own free agency journeys, but the Bengals wouldn't have signed either of them if they weren't comfortable with their unique body types. Trent Brown wasn't even the first offensive tackle the club brought in for a visit this month. Mekhi Becton, who stands 6-7, 363, came to Cincinnati on a visit first.
How big do the Bengals want their tackles? As big as possible, apparently.
Height and weight are only part of the equation as well. Fuaga certainly packs a punch at his size despite being about 20 pounds smaller, but the way he uses his 33.125" arms creates a question of where he'd reach his full potential. Would he fare better at guard compared to tackle? It's not a concern that can be dismissed outright.
Latham's length isn't a problem. 35.125" arms are ideal to keep edge rushers at bay. So how does Mims separate himself from a former SEC rival?
Needed athleticism
Mims is more than just an imposing figure. He can carry his size unbelievably well on the field. His movement ability is elite in both creating space in pass protection, and tracking down would-be tacklers in the run game.
But don't just take my word for it, Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack is of the same opinion.
"He fits in that freak category. They shouldn't make human beings that size that can move like him," Pollack said with a smile on a recent episode of Dave Lapham In the Trenches. "He is everything. length, width, height, weight."
The movement skills showed up at the combine when he clocked a 5.07 in the 40-yard dash, which only perplexed Pollack even more.
"He ran like a five-0 something, it was ridiculous," Pollack said. "How's that possible?"
This is what the Bengals need more than anything, and not just at the tackle spot. The least athletic offensive line in a stacked AFC plays in Cincinnati, and that's backed up objective numbers.
The Bengals haven't invested any meaningful resources in blockers who can move better than just average at their size in a long time, and it's hindered their offense.
How else can the Bengals compete against the AFC North menaces? Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers terrorize them four times a year. The Baltimore Ravens' pass rush ended Joe Burrow's 2023 season in the middle of November. The answer isn't more guys who can't move well.
Cincinnati is in desperate need of athletes protecting Burrow, but they want the biggest dudes possible to do the job. Mims and his 9.55 RAS(!) is the perfect combination of desire and necessity. He's proven that more than Latham, whom hasn't tested.
Right value
There are the aforementioned drawbacks that come with Mims. He's played just 803 career snaps for Georgia, and is only credited with eight starts. Inexperience looks troubling on paper, but the on-field product looks much more refined.
"Technically, he's pretty far advanced for a guy who really hasn't played a ton of football." NFL Draft analyst Mike Renner stated on a recent episode of The Growler with Paul Dehner Jr. "So I think his ceiling could be as high as anyone else in this draft class is."
The NFL loves tape over anything, and even if Mims doesn't have quantity, he has quality. A league desperate for starting tackles should value a prospect like Mims highly, and yet, the possibility of him lasting 18 selections is more likely than not.
Injuries have to be what's holding him back. He suffered multiple ankle injuries this past season and missed six games following tightrope surgery. He then strained his hamstring after performing athleticism testing at the combine.
Durability concerns can impact not only his long-term potential, but the probability of him being a starter right away. Fortunately, the Bengals don't need that from him with both Orlando and Trent Brown starting in 2024. Mims can get fully healthy behind the latter Brown and continue to grow his game before taking over at his natural spot.
For the 18th overall pick, Mims becoming the player his size, athleticism, and tape say he can be would be tremendous valuable.
Mims fits everything the Bengals could want for a right tackle of the future, and they are positioned perfectly to take a chance on him. He checks all the significant boxes to look for, Pollack's feelings about him are evident, and the team reportedly showed notable interest in him at his pro day on top of talking with him at the combine.
Until further notice, he should be the favorite to end up in Cincinnati.
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