Cincinnati Bengals Youth Checkup: Amarius Mims

CINCINNATI — The Bengals have not had much success drafting offensive linemen over the past 15 years, but 2024 first-round pick Amarius Mims is trying to change that.

He showed real signs of being a top-pick hit for Cincinnati down the stretch of his sophomore season in the league. The Bengals selected the 23-year-old with the 18th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of the University of Georgia.

Since 2021, only Chase Brown and Cordell Volson (both at 22 overall) have amassed more weighted Approximate Value on Pro Football Reference among Bengals draft picks.

Let's take a longer look at how he's fared so far in his career.

Checkup Report

Mims has started every game of his career so far but two and tallied 1,885 total snaps played before his 24th birthday, a ton of reps to keep growing with inside of a massive 6-7, 340-pound frame.

The underlying Pro Football Focus metrics paint a rough rookie picture (57.8 grade as a rookie, 67.6 in Year 2), but there was a major positive flip after Week 11 this past season. Mims posted just two games with a 66-plus PFF grade as a rookie, allowing 33 pressures and four sacks in his 835 snaps.

Flip to this season, and the influence of new offensive line coach Scott Peters could really start being felt once the weather started to get way colder. Mims mauled down the stretch of the 2025 campaign with 66-plus grades in all seven games to close the season (zero sacks allowed, nine pressures).

He allowed just two more QB pressures and the same amount of sacks on 215 more snaps than his rookie slate. The run blocking took a major step forward as well (52.6 RB grade in 2024, 64.8 in 2025), as he missed zero games due to any reason.

Dec 15, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Amarius Mims (71) in his stance against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

It really seemed like Mims got to get comfortable with his keys from Peters right when Joe Burrow returned from his Turf Toe injury in Week 13.

From Week 12 through Week 18, the Georgia product earned an 81.0 overall PFF grade, that ranked 13th among qualified offensive tackles.

Mims is burbling under the surface as a top tackle in the league candidate if he keeps growing in Peters system like he has so far. Cincinnati is basically set at offensive tackle for the 2026 season if they don't cut Orlando Brown Jr. as a cap casualty.

He's tied to the team for one more season on the contract he signed in 2023 free agency with Cincinnati. Mims has played every snap of his NFL and college career at right tackle, so it may not be prudent to make him switch to left tackle once Brown's time in Cincinnati is over, but Mims has all the makings of a draft slam dunk right now.

The young star will try to keep growing at this rate and make a run at Willie Anderson's clear crown as the best right tackle in Bengals history.

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