Amarius Mims appears poised to deliver an all-time great pass protection season

Cincinnati Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims is putting on a show this season. It's high time for the larger NFL community to put some respect on his name, especially after he was so pivotal to the offense's 35-point eruption in Week 7's blowout of the Ravens.

Unfortunately, the first players to be forgotten on a football field when they're doing a stellar job are offensive linemen. It is indeed a good thing if that unit isn't a talking point, because that means they're doing their job well.

This is quite the relief for the oft-battered Joe Burrow. Doesn't mean Mims should be forgotten, however.

Mims is arguably the best pass protector at right tackle in the NFL

We're not just talking about Amarius Mims having a good 2026 season. We're talking about one of the greatest seasons in recent NFL history in pass protection according to Gridiron Grading.

Mims hasn't faced a totally easy slate of opponents either. He demoralized Bucs first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. in Bain's NFL debut. He held his own against Houston's Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter in Week 2. The next game was a whole lot of T.J. Watt, who did a whole lot of nothing when Mims locked up with him.

Then it's not like the Jaguars were a cakewalk with their duo of Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. The Miami Dolphins don't have many formidable pass rushers, but in Week 7 once again, Mims kept Burrow clean against the Ravens, helping to spoil Trey Hendrickson's revenge game versus Cincinnati.

Rather than getting in the weeds of who lined up against who and when, suffice it to say that Mims pretty much keeps one edge of Burrow's vision completely clean.

And what are the results? Well, Burrow has a 110.4 passer rating, 15 TDs and only three INTs despite a running game that's about as bad and unimaginative scheme-wise as it gets.

PFF's grades have Mims second-worst run blocker out of 68 qualifying offensive tackles. I generally use PFF as a decent baseline for player performance, but they're not beyond reproach. I'm a little skeptical that Mims is some dreadful run blocker, which is contributing to his mediocre 42nd out of 71 overall ranking amongst tackles.

The Bengals don't really run on the edge often, so like...how well can you really gauge Mims' performance?

I do think the middling PFF numbers are a big reason Mims isn't talked about more. But really, I said it all offseason, that this would be Burrow's best o-line of his career. That's proven true so far.

The biggest reason, literally/physically? None other than Amarius Mims.

Now if the Bengals can just trade for a running back to really make this offense sing!

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