Welcome Amarius Mims

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Dane Brugler's Amarius Mims scouting report from The Beast.

Quote:AMARIUS MIMS | Georgia 6076 | 340 lbs. | 3JR Cochran, Ga. (Bleckley County) 10/14/2002 (age 21.53)  #65  

BACKGROUND: Amarius Mims grew up in the small central Georgia town of Cochran (population 5,000). It was a “football town,” and Mims was active in sports, playing both basketball and football for the Barons in middle school. He also spent a lot of time bass fishing. Mims attended Bleckley County High School, where he was a three-sport letterman. For his sophomore season, the varsity squad had two offensive tackles entrenched as starters, but Mims was too talented to keep off the field, so he lined up as a versatile blocking tight end (he also saw snaps on the defensive line and recorded 22 tackles). As a junior, Mims earned first team All-State honors and helped Bleckley County to a 7-4 record and a state playoff appearance. He again earned first team All-State honors as a senior and helped the team advance to the quarterfinals of the 2020 2A playoffs. Mims was selected to the 2021 Under Armour All-American Game. He also lettered in basketball and track, and he posted a personal best of 48 feet, 1 inch in the shot put.

A five-star recruit, Mims was the No. 3 offensive tackle in the 2021 recruiting class and the No. 1 recruit in Georgia (ahead of his close friend QB Brock Vandagriff). He was ranked the No. 8 overall recruit nationally (one spot behind QB Caleb Williams and one spot ahead of edge rusher Dallas Turner). After his sophomore season as a blocking tight end, Georgia gave him his first scholarship offer in January 2019, when former defensive coordinator (and current Oregon head coach) Dan Lanning stopped by Bleckley County to hand deliver the news. Within the next few weeks, Mims also picked up offers from Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, Penn State and Tennessee. The summer before his senior year, he released a top six of Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee and was constantly on the road visiting those schools (went to Athens over 30 times). He committed to the Bulldogs in October 2020 and became the top-ranked recruit in head coach Kirby Smart’s 2021 class. After playing a reserve role as a true freshman, he entered the transfer portal in April 2022 and visited Florida State. However, Mims elected to remove his name from the portal after 10 days and return to Athens. Mims holds a 3.6 GPA at Georgia and is working toward his sports management degree. After three years with the program, Mims opted out of the 2023 bowl game and skipped his senior season to enter the 2024 NFL Draft.

YEAR (GP/GS) POSITION NOTES      
2021: (9/0)  Enrolled in January 2021; Entered the transfer portal after the 2021 season (removed his name after 10 days) 
2022: (14/2) RT    First two career starts came in the 2022 College Football Playoff
2023: (7/6) RT      Missed six games (left ankle); Missed bowl game (opted out) 
Total: (30/8) RT   

HT WT HAND ARM WING 40-YD 20-YD 10-YD VJ BJ SS 3C BP    
COMBINE 6076 340 11 1/4 36 1/8 86 3/4 5.07 2.95 1.77 25 1/2 9’3” - - - (no shuttle, 3-cone, skills — rt hamstring) 
PRO DAY 6076 344 11 3/8 35 3/4 86 7/8 - - - - - - - - (no workout — right hamstring)

STRENGTHS: Exceptional size with evenly distributed mass on his tall, big-boned frame (body fat dropped from 25 percent when he enrolled to 17 percent as a junior) … has outstanding arm length and wingspan, making it tough to get around him … moves with impressive control for a 340-pounder … his feet and strike timing consistently stay on the same page … flashes power in his hands to latch, adjust and keep defenders at bay through engagement (Georgia defensive lineman Warren Brinson: “When he touches you, you feel it.”) … pass sets with a flat back and repeatable technique … leg drive can move interior linemen from the gap … plays with natural strength in his base and rarely finds himself inverted … appears comfortable in space, with the mobility to climb or reach outside landmarks in outside zone … wasn’t flagged for holding or a false start in college … NFL scouts say his football character is “more mature than expected” given his rare size and tools … his coaches say he cares about athletic development and body conditioning. 

 WEAKNESSES: Only eight career starts, and his collegiate resume feels incomplete … prone to youthful habits when he drops his eyes and gets impatient … naturally high-hipped and can do a better job leveraging through engagement when fitting up run blocks … upright in pass protection … sets hard outside and needs to stay alert to inside counters … the depth of his pass sets need some fine-tuning … missed six games as a junior after suffering a left ankle injury (September 2023), which required tightrope surgery (also exited the 2023 SEC Championship Game early with an ankle injury) … practiced at left tackle but didn’t log any in-game snaps at left tackle or guard at Georgia. 

SUMMARY: A one-year starter at Georgia, Mims manned the right tackle spot in offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s balanced run scheme. Considered the prize of Kirby Smart’s 2021 recruiting class, he waited his turn and then missed half of the 2023 season because of injury once he became the full-time starter. Still, he played at a high level in his eight career starts (zero sacks allowed), especially against Ohio State in his first career start in the 2022 College Football Playoff. With his remarkable physique and trim build, Mims carries 340 pounds better than anyone I have ever seen and plays with outstanding balance and arm length in pass protection (Sedrick Van Pran: “You don’t need 1,000 reps when you have his gifts from God.”). Because of tightness in his lower body, he needs continued coaching for better sustain and leverage consistency in the run game, but he creates terrific extension with the play strength to control the point of attack. Overall, Mims isn’t as far along fundamentally (especially in the run game) as other tackles in the class, but he is a natural in pass protection with above-average length, footwork and body twitch to handle different types of edge rushers. Though there is projection involved with his draft grade, his best football is ahead of him, and he has the talent to become a long-term starter at left or right tackle. 

GRADE: 1st Round (No. 19 overall)