The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

UGA’s Mims, Van Pran-Granger are big talents in the trenches

- By D. Orlando Ledbetter dledbetter@ajc.com JASON GETZ/AJC 2023

Editor’s note: Here’s the fifth story of our positionby-position NFL draft series. Today, we’ll look at the top offensive linemen.

NFL teams looking to fortify their offensive lines in the draft could look to former Georgia players in tackle Amarius Mims and center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger.

Mims measured at 6 feet 7¾ and weighed 340 pounds at the NFL scouting combine. Van Pran-Granger is a technician at his position. The NFL draft is set for April 25-27 in Detroit.

Notre Dame’s Joe Alt is considered the top offensive tackle in the draft, but Mims’ size makes him perhaps the most intriguing player at the tackle position.

“I think the guy to roll the dice with is Amarius Mims,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said. “Had he played more games than eight in his career as a starter, he would have been top 10 and maybe top 5. He’s that gifted.”

NFL teams like Mims’ combinatio­n of size and speed. He ran the 40-yard dash in 5.07 seconds, pretty fast for a big guy.

“The arm length,” Kiper said. “The size. He’s a mountain of a man. He can move. He played really well when he was out there healthy.”

A team may call Mims’ name in the middle of the first round, or he could slip into the second round.

Mims had to wait his turn at Georgia. “I think right tackle, and with the limited amount of opportunit­ies as a starter, but he’s got the skillset to be a left tackle,” Kiper said. “With him it’s coaching. (Getting him) more experience. The talent is in abundance.”

“I like him, a big talented guy,” said ESPN NFL analyst Mike Tannenbaum, the former general manager of the Jets. “I do worry ... he didn’t play a lot there. There were a lot of good players in front of him, so I saw him in the first round because his movement for his size is just rare. It’s not ideal … when you talk about these other guys who have played for at least three years. There is a little bit of a risk.”

Alt’s father, John, was selected in the first-round (21st overall) by the Chiefs in 1984, played 13 seasons in the NFL and was named to the Pro Bowl twice.

“Joe Alt really got better from what he was early at Notre Dame, and what he was the last two years was a significan­t improvemen­t,” Kiper said. “He’s a left tackle.”

Van Pran-Granger is projected to go in the third or fourth rounds. Some have compared him to former LSU center Lloyd Cushenberr­y, who went to the Broncos in the third round of the 2020 draft. Cushenberr­y has started 57 games over four seasons, and he signed with the Titans in free agency.

Van Pran-Granger ran the 40-yard dash in 5.2 seconds at the scouting combine.

Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier are the centers rated ahead of Van Pran-Granger. Frazier suffered a fractured fibula in his leg in a game against Baylor in November.

“Just from the injury standpoint, I was lucky that I just broke the bone,” Frazier said. “I didn’t do any ligament damage. If I did do ligament damage, maybe that would hurt it. The doctors just told me that bones heal, and I’ll be all right.”

Kiper is high on Duke center Graham Barton. “He’s a former tackle,” Kiper said. “He played center early on. How did he not get to the Big 10? He’s a Big 10 lineman. He’s ready to go. He’s a plug-and-play center.”

Washington tackle Roger Rosengarte­n also is highly regarded. “I think he could be (a later first-rounder),” Kiper said. “I think he’s very underrated. He’s not getting enough publicity for the kind of year that he had. A lot of those projection­s have him in the second or the third. I had him in the late first all along. We’ll see how that plays out.”

Rosengarte­n helped the Huskies reach the national championsh­ip game last season. “Overall, he had a pretty good two years as a right tackle, protecting the blind side of (left-handed quarterbac­k) Michael Penix Jr.,” Kiper said.

 ?? ?? NFL teams like tackle Amarius Mims’ combinatio­n of size and speed. He’s 6 feet 7¾ and weighs 340 pounds, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.07 seconds.
NFL teams like tackle Amarius Mims’ combinatio­n of size and speed. He’s 6 feet 7¾ and weighs 340 pounds, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.07 seconds.

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