In just 14 days, the 2024 NFL Draft will kick off in Detroit and it will no longer be time for speculation, debate, or hesitation with draft prospects.
It’s put up or shut up for teams when it comes to prospects. One of those prospects that is talked about quite a bit so far in the pre-draft process has been Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims.
Mims started just eight career games for the Bulldogs over the last two seasons, missing some time with an ankle injury that required tightrope surgery. Mims played in just over 800 career snaps during his time in Athens with the Bulldogs. For many, he can be slapped with the “raw” label.
But for The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, arguably the best draft analyst in the media, he’s not a raw player; he’s just inexperienced.
Appearing on “The Athletic Football Show” with hosts Robert Mays and Nate Tice, Brugler stated that Mims is so intriguing due to his physical traits and the stuff he put on tape in those eight games and more than 800 snaps. However, Brugler also stated that if he needed an offensive tackle to start tomorrow, he wouldn’t draft Mims in the top 20.
“I think he’s more inexperienced than he is truly raw because I think there’s a lot of natural ability there. It’s just, but again, it does take a leap of faith when you’re talking about a guy with eight starts. But just the fact when you throw on the Ohio State game from last year and his first career start ever, and he was that good. I can’t eliminate that from my mind,” Brugler said regarding Mims, according to video via The Athletic on YouTube. “And it’s like, okay, I want to bet on this in the right situation. If I need a tackle tomorrow, I’m not drafting him top 20.”
The inexperience is certainly concerning, especially when you’re taking a gamble on a fair amount of projecting moving forward in the NFL, especially at a valuable position in the first round of the NFL Draft.
But when it comes to a player the size of Mims, with the athleticism he has, coupled with strong tape in his limited action, it’s hard to pass on that type of player.
Throughout the pre-draft process, Mims has been connected to the Pittsburgh Steelers quite a bit, especially after the Steelers met with him formally at the Combine, attended his Pro Day in full force, and hosted him for a pre-draft visit at the South Side facility in Pittsburgh.
It also helps that Mims stated it would mean a lot to become a Steeler and reunite with former Georgia teammates in Broderick Jones, Darnell Washington, and George Pickens.
Brugler, in fact, compared Mims to Jones a bit due to experience level coming out of college. The Steelers, of course, traded up from No. 17 to No. 14 to land Jones in the first round.
“If I can be willing to be a little bit patient and — hopefully he starts for me. I mean, think about Broderick Jones last year for the Steelers. They drafted him 14th overall in the draft last year, and he got some action, but he wasn’t a down-to-down starter for them the entire year,” Brugler said of Mims in comparison to Jones. “And so Mims is even, maybe even a little bit more time than that. So you have to be comfortable with that aspect of, I’m not quite sure how many games he’s gonna start for us as a rookie, but long-term thinking, really excited about what he’s gonna be for us.”
That’s the tantalizing aspect of Mims as a prospect. He needs to continue to develop some and needs more snaps and playing time. But what he’s shown on tape at Georgia shows that the sky is the limit, and he could very well be the best tackle coming out of the draft class, which is rather loaded overall.
Chances are, he goes inside the top 20, with No. 20 overall to the Steelers being his floor. Of course, stranger things can happen, which could cause him to fall a bit. But he’s a fascinating test case for experience and potential in the draft.
