Amarius Mims has emerged as a dominant force on the Bengals’ offensive line, establishing himself as one of the NFL’s top young offensive tackles through the first three weeks of the season.
When thinking about the top offensive tackles in the NFL, you may think about Penei Sewell, Tristan Wirfs, Trent Williams or even Lane Johnson or Jordan Mailata. They have been the cornerstones of their respective offensive lines for years now and have performed at the highest level to keep their quarterbacks clean.
But what if I told you a new name is slowly inserting himself into the conversation, and not many people are talking about it quite yet?
Amarius Mims has fueled the step the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive line has taken through the first three weeks of the season. He’s been stellar in pass protection and is quietly stepping into the role as one of Cincinnati’s most important young players on the roster.
For me, he was one of the players who had the most pressure on himself to take that next step this season. The Bengals haven’t been able to protect Joe Burrow in years past, and they saw Mims as a guy they needed to invest in to help improve the offensive line, and he’s been up to the challenge.
He’s lined up across from some of the best edge rushers in the league in Cincinnati’s first three games, including Will Anderson Jr. of the Texans and T.J. Watt of the Steelers. Mims was credited with 23 one-on-one snaps against Watt last Sunday and completely took him out of the picture. Yet he still hasn’t allowed a single pressure on 113 pass-blocking snaps, a whopping 42 more than the next closest lineman to accomplish the same feat.
That has earned him an 80.9 pass-blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus, putting him 10th overall among qualified tackles.
I was expecting Mims to show improvement this season. He has all of the tools necessary to be one of the top offensive tackles in the NFL, but what I wasn’t expecting was how quickly he would make such a big jump. He’s playing at an All-Pro level, and statistically, he’s up there with some of the best in the sport.
Will he go the whole season without surrendering a pressure? Probably not. Can he continue to play at an All-Pro level and compete for Protector of the Year by season’s end? Absolutely.
Mims is playing the best football of his career right now, and he is slowly inserting his name into the conversation of the top offensive tackles in the NFL. He has taken the league by storm, more and more people are talking about him, and he has rightfully earned his time in the spotlight.
