Matt Miller: Tyler Guyton Could Go Before Amarius Mims
The Pittsburgh Steelers need an offensive tackle but the board is shaking up two weeks out from the NFL Draft.
The Steelers haven’t bothered to hide their interest in Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims, bringing him into the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for a pre-draft visit, sending general manager Omar Khan, head coach Mike Tomlin and others to his pro day in Athens, Georgia, and holding a formal interview with him at the 2024 NFL Combine. But they also brought Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton in on Thursday, meaning that they are surveying the landscape for tackles.
The Steelers have drafted three former Georgia Bulldogs in the last two drafts — wide receiver George Pickens, offensive tackle Broderick Jones and tight end Darnell Washington. Mims very well could be the next product out of Athens to come to the Steel City. But Daniel Jeremiah does not see Mims as a guy who can start day one, and he might even fall to the second round.
“If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said Guyton and Mims, they’re gonna go ahead of Graham Barton,” Jeremiah said on the Move the Sticks podcast. “What happens as we get to the end, people are like, ‘Man those guys are really talented and maybe next year they’d be top fifteen picks, but there’s just not a lot of starts.'”
And Matt Miller backed that up on Friday, suggesting that the order of tackles could have Mims going after Guyton. That was not expected right out of the gate, but it seems possible now.
Here's my guess at the order the offensive tackles come off the board (not my ranking):
1 Alt, Joe
2 Latham, JC
3 Fashanu, Olu
4 Fuaga, Taliese
5 Fautanu, Troy (T/G)
6 Barton, Graham (T/C)
7 Guyton, Tyler
8 Mims, Amarius— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) April 12, 2024
An interview of Mims discussing the possibility of being reunited with Jones, Washington and Pickens was unearthed from the Georgia pro day on March 13.
“It would mean a lot,” Mims said on the possibility of playing with former Georgia teammates in Pittsburgh. “Just reuniting with the Georgia guys again. Guys like Darnell, of course, Broderick and George. We got a bond and it would be great spending however much time I can possible with them, however long I would be there. So that definitely would be nice.”
Georgia tackle Amarius Mims on potentially playing with Broderick Jones and Darnell Washington again in Pittsburgh.
Not to mention, #Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was in attendance at his Pro Day.
📽 @DawgsHQ #SteelersNation #HereWeGo #NFL #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/CS4iUa1Gsl
— Steelers Black and Gold Nation (@B_GNation1) April 9, 2024
Mims did not work out at the pro day due to a hamstring injury that he suffered at the NFL Combine. He is set to workout privately in front of several NFL scouts and evaluators on April 10.
The 6-foot-7 3/4, 340-pound Mims certainly has the size and athleticism to be an elite offensive tackle. At the combine, Mims ran a 5.07-second 40-yard dash, an impressive time for that size.
But he has significant questions about his experience level and injury history. After sitting behind Broderick Jones and others his first two seasons, playing in just two games as a sophomore, Mims played only six games due to injury in 2023, before declaring early for the draft.
Guyton is not a perfect player. On some of the reps he did win, Guyton’s hands got wide, and that could leave him open to getting bullrushed or called for holding. But he has a fiery intensity to his game and the athleticism is there. I think he helped his stock tremendously and looks like a starter.
But those athletic tools give him a floor to meet whenever he goes out on the field. And as a run blocker, he has to eliminate some tendencies, such as playing with a high pad level, allowing edge rushers to scrape across his face. Of those top tackles, he is the rawest with many questions, but the athletic tools and ceiling that come with Guyton are special. And that is why he is rising up boards so quickly when he shows baseline traits that give him a better-than-expected floor. He gave more people a reason to take the risk.
Guyton is not a bad fit with the Steelers whatsoever. In fact, he makes a good deal of sense. First, he plays right tackle, which is his natural position and could kick Broderick Jones back over to left tackle. That’s an ideal outcome for Pittsburgh when looking at these tackles. But more than that, his athleticism will allow him to get out in space and reach linebackers in those wide zone schemes.
No matter what happens, his struggles in pass-protection skills present somewhat of a problem, considering Jones is already someone who is greener on that side. But like Jones, his athleticism gives you a spectacular benchmark to see where the upside is, and Arthur Smith’s scheme will reward that with how much his lineman are built on speed off the ball, physicality, and athleticism, all things that Guyton has to bring to the table to them.
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