Cinema Room: Amarius Mims makes hard blocks look easy

In the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected 6-foot-8, 340-pound offensive tackle Amarius Mims from the Georgia Bulldogs.

Mims should never have fallen out of the top 10, and if not for an injury that limited him last season, he might have pushed Notre Dame’s Joe Alt to become OT1. Mims is built like a colossus, and despite his limited starting experience, he makes advanced games feel rudimentary.

We’ll take a look.

Wearing No. 77, Mims is the second player in red from the left.

Much has been made of Mims’ limited experience as a starter, but it’s pretty impressive to make his first playoff start against Ohio State’s defensive front and play like that.

Mims seamlessly transmits the inside rotation move through the defensive end and picks up the defensive tackle (#5) as he loops to the outside. This is a high-level game on the biggest stage against a marquee defensive line.

Complain all you want about its lack of starts, but this is a veteran pickup.

Mims wears No. 77 in white.

Just for fun, let’s look at another twist against Mims.

In this clip, he drives the defensive end into the offensive guard, and the pair essentially slam him to the turf. But Mims is not finished. The clip may be a little tight, but I can assure you he nailed the block on the looping defensive tackle as well.

Mims wears No. 77 in white.

Mims here thwarts the defensive end’s first attempt at speed. As the defender tries to gather himself for a second wave, Mims chokes him to the ground with a vicious double can punch.

As Steve Young said in the old Raisin Bran Crunch commercials, “Mean game!” »

Mims wears No. 65 in red.

The criticism against Mims is his run blocking, and you can see why in this play. He makes the block but doesn’t get the movement you expect from a goliath like him. He needs to lie down with better leverage and keep his feet moving.

Yet the play is successful because of the wall of humanity that separates the defender from the ball carrier. Its massive size not only gives it a high ceiling, it places its floor on stilts like a beachfront property.

Wearing No. 65, Mims is the second player from the left in red.

A giant like Mims should be able to bulldoze the defensive line, but a man of his size isn’t expected to make athletic blocks in space. Yet, somehow, Mims is one of the best second-tier blockers in this year’s draft. Not only does he have the athleticism, but he understands angles when working with linebacker.

It’s a fantastic piece.

Mims has some areas he could improve on, but he does the difficult things very well and is only 21 years old. If he plays to his potential, let’s just say he wears the right number (71) for the Bengals.