The Cincinnati Bengals took Amarius Mims in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft with the hopes he could be a quality starter for a long time in front of Joe Burrow.
Mims’ story is very much in progress after a solid rookie year — but one NFL re-draft already has the Bengals going away from him.
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport re-drafted the entire 2024 NFL first round and had the Bengals instead pick current New Orleans Saints tackle Taliese Fuaga:
Taliese Fuaga was thrown into the fire as a rookie, playing 1,070 snaps in 2024 for the New Orleans Saints. It wasn’t a flawless first season, but former Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was impressed by what he saw from the youngster in 2024.
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Fuaga, by all accounts, had a super-strong rookie year at left tackle and could surely kick to right tackle, where the Bengals would need him.
But the Bengals should hardly feel bad about Mims. He seemed to have the right tackle job secured going into Week 1 before an untimely injury.
Mims wound up playing in 15 games as a rookie and showed serious flashes of being a franchise player on the right side. The big concern coming out of college — availability — remains, but it’s hard to imagine the Bengals would go a different direction if given the chance.
