Amarius

Mims

No surprise here. Higgins did go through pregame warmups and even ran some routes with Jake Browning before the contest, but the doubtful designation was there for a reason. Also inactive for the Bengals are DE Cedric Johnson, OT Amarius Mims (pec), TE Tanner McLachlan and DT Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb). Tanner Hudson (knee) was listed as doubtful, but is active for the contest.

Hudson appears unlikely to recapture his brief 2023 fantasy relevance. The Bengals also ruled out DT Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb) and listed Amarius Mims (pectoral) as doubtful.

Higgins was a long shot to suit up this week after missing multiple practices. His absence puts Andrei Iosivas on the fantasy radar as a flex play. WR Kendric Pryor, Edge Cedric Johnson, OT Amarius Mims (pec), TE Tanner McLachlan, and DT Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb) round out the rest of the Bengals inactives.

Following this injury, Mims’ availability for Week 1’s matchup against the Patriots is very much in doubt. The Bengals selected Mims in the first round of this year’s draft in hopes of tightening up the right side of their line after losing Jonah Williams in free agency. Veteran tackle Trent Brown is expected to fill in for Mims during his absence, and would be the presumed starter at right tackle as long as Mims is out.

Mims becomes the final rookie of the 2024 class to sign his deal. It’s a fully guaranteed one for Mims, who will also receive a $7.99 million signing bonus on the deal. The Bengals selected Mims in hopes of shoring up an offensive line that has proven detrimental, at times, to Joe Burrow. With Orlando Brown anchoring the left side, Mims will slot in at right tackle, where he spent the majority of his three-year career while at Georgia. Mims earned a PFF blocking grade of 75.6 last season, allowing no sacks on just one pressure in seven games. He should be an immediate upgrade over Jonah Williams, who is now with the Cardinals.

A five-star, top-10 recruit from the 2021 prep class who arrived on campus with high expectations, Mims logged 121 snaps as UGA’s second-team RT during their initial national championship run. He saw consistent part-time action during the 2022 regular season and was ready to step in and play major snaps in Georgia’s three postseason contests, with 154 of his 385 total snaps occurring in those high-leverage playoff games. He didn’t allow a single pressure versus LSU and Ohio State while recording a 98.9% blocking efficiency rating with four hurries and an 80th percentile pass block grade in his sophomore campaign. Mims won the starting RT job this year and was on his way to a standout season, earning 83rd percentile pass block grades in each of his first three games of the year before going down with a high-ankle injury that required tightrope surgery. He wouldn’t return until Week 11 when he rotated in for 35 snaps against Ole Miss and started two more games before exiting the SEC Championship game against Alabama after just 11 reps. On a per-play basis Mims was almost impenetrable, allowing just one QB hurry on the season with zero hits, penalties or sacks in 297 snaps. His 99.7% blocking efficiency mark led the entire Power Five last season as the brick-shaped RT finally was able to unleash his tantalizing physical gifts, albeit in a restricted fashion due to injury. Mims will join a Bengals offensive line graded by PFF as 2023’s tenth worst pass blocking unit.