Nick Saban doesn't hold back on Georgia's Amarius Mims 'taking himself out' vs. Alabama
Nick Saban is not easing into his role as a football television commentator.
The legendary now retired Alabama coach didn’t hold back Thursday night when talking about Amarius Mims from Georgia when the offensive tackle went in the first round of the NFL draft to the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 18 overall pick.
"This guy's got all the tools — he's got great size, he's got great power,” Saban said during ABC's draft broadcast. “He’s one of the most powerful guys in this draft ... But it makes you wonder, why did the guy only start 8 [games?] Like, in the SEC championship game, he played the first 15 plays of the game and then he's out. Takes himself out. I don't know what he injured, what he hurt, whatever. But you've got to be a little bit more consistent in your performance if you're going to be a great player and a starter in the National Football League."
Mims missed six games after TightRope surgery for a high ankle sprain in week three.
He addressed leaving the 27-24 loss in the SEC championship game early. He said he reinjured the ankle.
“It wasn’t my proudest game, honestly,” he said at the NFL combine. “I went down, I want to say play 12. I wish I could have finished the game with my guys. We fell up short. If I could go back to that game, I wish I wouldn’t have got bumped up on my ankle again. If we were 100 percent healthy, it would have been a different outcome in that game.”
The 6-foot-7, 340-pound Mims sat out the Orange Bowl as did tight end Brock Bowers, a fellow first-round pick.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said in a press conference after the pick that Mims will have a chance to learn from veteran offensive tackles on the team.
“I think we’re all of the opinion that the only reason he’s here for us to pick at 18 is probably because of the fact that he only has eight starts,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “Had he played this whole season the way he played in the tape that we saw, there’s a very low chance that we’d even have an opportunity to pick him."
The Bengals liked Mims' length and how he moves for a 340 pounder.
"It's all the things you want to see out of a guy that size to project to being a high-end pass protector in the NFL," Pitcher said.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Pointed Nick Saban comments on Georgia's Amarius Mims during NFL Draft
