The Cincinnati Bengals have spent years trying to build an offensive line capable of protecting Joe Burrow through an entire season.
They may finally have their anchor in Amarius Mims.
The Athletic selected Amarius Mims as Cincinnati’s breakout candidate for 2026 and offered a prediction that would carry enormous consequences for the offense.
Paul Dehner Jr. wrote that Mims appears ready to play at an “All-Pro level” after closing last season with one of the strongest stretches of any young tackle.
According to Dehner, Mims allowed no hit or sack of Burrow from the quarterback’s Thanksgiving return through the end of the season.
That finish begs the question; do the Bengals have a young, homegrown tackle with the size and upside to become a long-term foundation piece?
Burrow would have great days ahead if that’s true.
Mims Is Becoming Bengals’ Offensive-Line Anchor
Mims entered the NFL with an unusual profile.
The 6-foot-8, 350-pound tackle made only eight starts at Georgia, but his movement skills and frame convinced Cincinnati to select him No. 18 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
He was still 21 when he made his first professional start.
Two seasons later, the projection has started to become production.
Mims started all 17 games in 2025 and played 1,051 offensive snaps, accounting for 94.6% of Cincinnati’s total. The Bengals credited him with zero holding penalties and one false start across the season.
Pro Football Focus tracked Mims for 694 pass-blocking snaps. He allowed 37 pressures, producing a 5.3% pressure rate that ranked 27th-lowest among tackles with at least 100 pass-blocking snaps.
His best work came after Burrow returned from a nine-game injury absence.
Cincinnati limited Baltimore to one sack on Thanksgiving, then allowed none in a 45-21 victory over Miami on Dec. 21. Burrow finished his abbreviated season with 17 touchdown passes and five interceptions across eight starts.
Mims now has continuity beside him with right guard Dalton Risner, who re-signed for 2026.
Cincinnati also returns all five starting offensive linemen, giving a group that has endured constant turnover a chance to build on its most encouraging season in years.
The Bengals allowed 36 sacks in 2025 and finished tied for 10th in sack percentage, their first top-10 finish in that category since 2014.
Bengals Could Be Watching Their Next Major Extension Develop
The Athletic’s prediction goes beyond a standard breakout label.
Dehner called Mims the next well-compensated star on Cincinnati’s offense, a possibility that feels increasingly realistic if his late-season form carries into 2026.
Mims enters his third season at 23 years old, and already has 30 starts and has missed only two games across his first two years. Another durable season would strengthen his case as one of the league’s most valuable young right tackles.
He also believes there is considerable room left in his game.
“I have not scratched the surface of what I want to be,” Mims told the Bengals’ official website in April, adding that his goal is to become an elite tackle.
That mindset is vital since Cincinnati’s offense necessitates stout offensive tackles to enhance Burrow’s ability to extend plays for explosive gains.
Mims has the physical tools to handle those snaps. His final six games supplied evidence that his technique is catching up.
And if Mims reaches the All-Pro level predicted by The Athletic, Cincinnati will face a far better problem: determining how much it will take to keep its new anchor for the long term.
Cincinnati Bengals’ Mims Lands Huge Prediction