There are never perfect prospects in the NFL draft. Every player, even the consensus first-overall picks, has things to work on. Sometimes, players just have bigger holes in their games than others. According to Booger McFarland, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t see that as a talent problem.
McFarland joined ESPN’s Mina Kimes on a YouTube-exclusive Mina Kimes Show on Monday to talk about the NFL draft. Kimes presented McFarland with the choice between Alabama CB Terrion Arnold and Georgia OT Amarius Mims. McFarland took Mims before explaining his rationale and it had everything to do with Mike Tomlin.
“Mike Tomlin made a quote to me years ago, and he said it before,” McFarland said. “And when projects come up or when guys who need some extra development come up, I’m always reminded of this. He says, ‘When I hear people say a guy needs to get better at this, that means he needs to be coached. Well, guess what, that’s my job. And I don’t run from coaching, I run to coaching.'”
The pick of Mims is certainly not an earth-shattering one, but it sets the stage for what McFarland shared. One of the biggest issues with Mims is the lack of playing time. He’s incredibly inexperienced, with only eight career starts and 803 career snaps in college.
That’s something that can be rectified simply with time and patient coaching. When Alex Kozora scouted Mims for Steelers Depot, he also noted a couple of technique issues that showed up on tape. Namely, he can struggle to find and block defenders on the second level and has a tendency to lean forward too much when blocking.
Those are not physical failings. Mims doesn’t really have those. Physically, there’s tape on Mims using every bit of his size and power to make great plays on the football field. He simply hasn’t played enough football to truly hone his game in.
That’s where the coaching comes in. So, if you think the Steelers would avoid Mims because he could be a bit of a project due to his lack of experience, you might want to reconsider.
Mims needs coaching, and as McFarland says, Mike Tomlin runs to coaching his players, not away.
