The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Amarius Mims out of Georgia with the 18th overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft. And since then, they have not looked back.
Unlike other highly questionable recent high draft picks along the offensive line, the coaching staff has not felt the need to question whether he is the answer or to find a position for which the former Georgia Bulldogs is comfortable, as he has settled nicely into the starting role on the right side.
Now, fans and the team are waiting for Mims to take the proverbial next step as one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL.
But we are not the only ones, as some outside of the Queen City are also expecting big things from the big man, as one national publication predicts.
PFF writer identifies Amarius Mims as Bengals breakout candidate
Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus recently released his breakout candidates for all 32 NFL teams. And for Cincinnati, he chose Mims as his fighter.
Of Mims, Locker writes, “…Mims really hit his stride in the second half of 2025, earning an 81.0 overall grade from Weeks 12-18. In those seven weeks, Mims didn’t give up a sack and produced a 76.6 PFF run-blocking score.”
Overall, PFF ranked Mims 42nd among 89 tackles. According to their grading system, he ranked 53rd in pass blocking and 47th in run blocking.
Hopefully, Locker is correct. We should expect that Mims will pick up where his 2016 season left off, and that this upcoming season will be a fruitful one for the 23-year-old lineman whom talking heads will mention when discussing the best at the position.
And there is every reason to think that this will be the case.
Continuity could fuel Mims' development
Mims was not the only lineman who finished this season strongly for the Bengals. The unit has a whole. Despite their typical slow start, the OL showed improvement throughout the year.
The offensive line showed enough production over its 17 games to finish as the seventh-highest graded unit according to the Pro Football Network.
The still extremely young Mims is returning to an ensemble featuring all of five starters heading into the 2026 season.
Perhaps more importantly, for the third-year player, he will line up next to last year’s starting right guard, Dalton Risner. Maintaining that familiarity with his neighbor should aid both their development as Joe Burrow's bodyguards.
But it is not only Burrow who hopes that Mims, individually, and the offensive line as a whole will take the next step to become one of the best units in the NFL.
Running back Chase Brown also hopes that Mims can develop into one of the best offensive linemen in the league, so that he, too, can reap the benefits of a much-improved offensive line, after being much-maligned.
Mims has financial incentive to break out
Another motivation for Mims is the fact that he will be eligible for an extension after this upcoming season.
The Bengals could attempt to give him an extension, getting out in front of the ever-rising price tag for players teams want to stick around. Or, they could choose to use the fifth-year option and further kick the can down the road of making any long-term decisions about his future with the team.
However, an extraordinary performance from Mims this season could make the fifth-year option much more expensive for the team to exercise.
Mims should have no problems reaching the second plateau of the option based on playtime, if healthy (knock on wood). But if he can have a Pro Bowl season this year, exercising the fifth-year option will be equivalent to the transition tender for offensive alignment, increasing the cost by a few million dollars.
This offseason, the difference between making one Pro Bowl or not was the difference between $19 million and $23.4 million under the 5th year option for offensive linemen.
Many stand to benefit from a Mims breakout
There are a plethora of people who would love for Mims to indeed break out in 2026.
Everyone who covers the NFL loves being right. Locker would love nothing more than to bat 1.000 with his 32 swings.
Also, Burrow, Chase Brown, the fans, Mims’ agent, and Mims’ bank account hope that the arrow continues to point in the right direction for Mims as part of an offensive line that is not the principal subject of scrutiny heading into the training camp and the preseason.
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