Bengals' first round draft pick was the prime target of their biggest AFC rival

The Cincinnati Bengals managed to stay put in the first round of the NFL Draft and still land their right tackle of the future in Amarius Mims. The 21-year old out of Georgia came off the board at the 18th pick, the fifth offensive tackle to be drafted.

Right before the Bengals were on the clock, the Minnesota Vikings traded up six picks to draft Dallas Turner with the 17th pick. Minnesota gave up its fifth-round pick along with two 2025 picks to move in front of the Bengals.  

Luckily, they weren't after the Bengals' target. A team the Bengals are far too familiar with, however, was trying to move up for Mims.

Per The Athletic's Nate Taylor, the Kansas City Chiefs were planning on trading up "more than 10 spots" to land Mims. Those plans ended once the Bengals made Mims their pick at 18th overall.

"Midway through the first round, Veach and Borgonzi began calling teams to find a trade partner that would allow them to move up more than 10 spots. The first prospect the Chiefs targeted was Amarius Mims, the tackle from Georgia. Although Mims played right tackle in college, many teams believed he had the talent to be a starting left tackle. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Mims with the 18th pick." - The Athletic's Nate Taylor

It's unclear if the Chiefs were trying to move ahead of the Bengals or not. Kansas City owned the 32nd pick as the Super Bowl champions, so they were at least trying to get into the top 22 picks based on Taylor's report. 

The Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers were each linked to Mims leading up to the draft, so it stands to reason Kansas City would try to jump at least one of those teams for its top target. Calls could've also been made to teams not yet on the clock picking right after Cincinnati and Pittsburgh to see if a tentative deal could be reached in case Mims fell.

Mims falling past the Bengals was not in the cards once Byron Murphy II went off the board 16th overall. Mims may've been Cincinnati's pick regardless if Murphy was there, but Murphy being gone definitely made the decision much easier. 

Cincinnati managed to snag its guy without having to give up anything in return, and Kansas City had to pivot. Instead of trading up 10+ picks, the Chiefs traded up four spots with the Buffalo Bills to land wide receiver Xavier Worthy with the 28th pick. They ended up getting their tackle a round later by selecting BYU's Kingsley Suamataia with the 63rd pick, the result of another minor trade up. 

Both the Bengals and Chiefs' drafts would've been altered completely had a massive trade up for Mims occurred. The Bengals may've lost the last two times they've faced on the field, but they managed to draft a player both teams highly coveted.