The NFL is made up of some of the freakiest athletes in the entire world; each year players are getting more and more athletic. This year, one of the freakiest athletes is Georgia Right Tackle, Amarius Mims. At the combine, Mims measured in at 6’7" and 340 lbs., with excellent length. Despite winning back-to-back national championships for the University of Georgia, Mims is extremely inexperienced. Having battled through multiple injuries, Mims ended up starting just eight games in his entire career with the Bulldogs. After making appearances in seven games as a true freshman, Mims entered the transfer portal but later withdrew his name. His first two starts at Georgia came in the 2022 Peach Bowl and National Championship where he had to play against an extremely talented Ohio State team as well as TCU. Born and raised in Cochran, Georgia, Mims was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and now has a chance to be one of the first offensive linemen taken in the 2024 NFL Draft.

One of my biggest concerns with Mims is his mentality and lack of tenacity. At his size, one would expect Mims to be a 'road-grader' that utilizes his strength to move defenders from point A to point B. That isn’t the case; he is not an elite second half of the play type of guy and doesn’t take pride in the run game. In his junior season, Mims battled through a lingering ankle injury that required tight-rope surgery in the beginning of the season. After returning later in the year, Mims re-injured his ankle against Alabama in the SEC championship game. Durability at his size is going to be one of the biggest questions regarding Mims during the draft process.

In the pass game, Mims has a good anchor and sees the game well despite his inexperience. What do I mean by this? He plays with his eyes up, which allows him to pass off and receive stunts as well as sort properly when identifying additional rushers. He is super light on his kick-step which enables him to hop and anchor against power rushes but gets him beat by crossover rushes. He is inconsistent with his hands; he is more of a clamper than a striker, but has shown the ability to shut down rushes when his hands are inside the defender's breastplate and he keeps his elbows tight. Due to his size and length, he has the potential to develop his jump-set which could take his game to the next level. While Mims has excellent length, he doesn’t use it very well yet. He still leans heavily on edge rushers at the top of their rushes, resulting in him either getting snatched or losing his balance. This could be due to laziness, which goes back to a lack of pride. Mims has all the physical intangibles to be elite but needs the reps and mindset to put it all together.

As a run blocker, Mims has shown the ability to properly execute double teams and combo blocks as well as take advantage of overly aggressive defensive linemen. With that being said, he struggles creating displacement, doesn’t seek contact, and is an awkward mover in space. He is very unnatural and has some major stiffness that shows up on film. His feet stop moving on contact and can get stuck in the air. At Georgia, he played in a mid-zone run scheme and didn’t have to pull very often. While there is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Mims, there is also a lot he needs to work on.

For a guy like Mims, his character and medical evaluation are arguably more important than his on-field evaluation. Understanding the WHY behind his concerns is vital. Is he a guy that is going to be willing to put in the work to get better? That is what teams will need to find out. With that being said, there are not many humans that are built like him and have that length. A team will ultimately be enticed by his traits so much that he will go sometime on day one, but I have a fourth-round grade on him. There are just so many areas where he will need to get better before he can be an average tackle in the NFL. From an attitude, movement ability, and length perspective, he is similar to Braxton Jones; he just plays on the other side of the line. To be successful, I believe he would best fit a mid-zone run scheme with a quarterback that operates primarily from the pocket.