NFL expert explains why Amarius Mims is on path to start for Bengals

At first, it seemed Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Amarius Mims would sit behind Trent Brown as a rookie.

But it sure isn’t looking like that now.

Mims took the majority of the first-team reps over the spring and into the summer, capped off by an encouraging showing in the team’s first preseason game.

Now, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has spotlighted Mims in a national column and helped explain why the narrative has changed so quickly:

• It’s rare that an offensive lineman is the buzz at training camp, but I’d say that was the case in Cincinnati—where Amarius Mims’s name was raised by everyone I talked to. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start, and the reason the Bengals saw this coming, despite Mims having just eight college starts, is interesting, too. Their scouts told the coaches that any issue there would be mitigated by Georgia’s game-like practices, and how the talent on that practice field was often better than what opponents threw at the Bulldogs.

The fact Brown missed time during the spring and is only just now getting in gear to partake in practices has given Mims enough time with the ones to prove Bengals coaches right.

While Brown has the veteran edge, Mims might just have enough of a head start now to lock down that starting gig at right tackle.

Even if Mims doesn’t earn the starting job right away, so far, what Bengals personnel thought about his pro upside has largely looked correct. And if it keeps on being correct, the team might have a long-term solution on that side of the line.