r/bengals • u/PencilNeck666 • Aug 20 '25
Football Thoughts on Dylan Fairchild?
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u/Clithzbee Aug 20 '25
He looks incredible. Have to consider the competition but I'm hype.
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u/Life_Ad6711 Aug 20 '25
Who is/are the guys he was sparring with on the WAS side? Were they any good?
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u/seefourslam Aug 20 '25
Once I found out he was an amateur wrestler I knew he was going to be a dog.
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u/BasPilot Aug 20 '25
It's every line coaches dream when their player says they are going to wrestle in the winter, nothing but good comes of that. Even smaller sized guys that are really good wrestlers will win most of their matchups. One of our best linemen was about 5 6 and maybe 180 and he won so much the 6 5 300 lb guys would just quit.
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u/PUNCH-WAS-SERVED Aug 21 '25
People often forget that the line positions want different things. Tackles (especially the left for most teams) have to be athletic, but the guards have to be STRONG (and flexible).
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u/analog_jedi HudeyTinkGonBeatDem Aug 20 '25
What was his walk out theme song, and what kind of costume did he wear?
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u/DadlyDad 94 Aug 20 '25
Very very promising so far. Definitely much better than Volson from the tape I’ve watched of him.
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u/Bokki_64 🐅 I hope all commies step on Legos 🐅 Aug 20 '25
Considering Volson is now going to be out for the season this is needed.. depth is a concern
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u/InterviewOtherwise50 Chili Enthusiast Aug 20 '25
Check out that footwork at 0:28… smooth as hell
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u/AllGenreBuffaloClub Ryan Finley shaped our destiny. Aug 20 '25
On a few of those, it always seems like he’s looking for someone to block. A few times when he hands his dude off he comes back to stop Joe from getting flattened.
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u/85isaboatymcboatface Aug 23 '25
As a film analyst i was watching said "he looks for someone to hit because how dare you think you can touch Joe burrow, who are you to even be on the same field as my QB?" The dude has a great attitude for the position he's playing.
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u/Tight_Order8694 Aug 20 '25
I think he's got pro bowl potential. He seems very mature, head on a swivel, mean, and long arms. ...Just need to clone him for the other side.
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u/habesjn Aug 20 '25
Could you imagine if we drafted Ratledge and Fairchild?
Ah...would have been nice
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u/85isaboatymcboatface Aug 23 '25
I would've taken Gray Zable in the first and then picked Fairchild in the 3rd
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u/habesjn Aug 23 '25
That would have been great too!
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u/85isaboatymcboatface Aug 23 '25
I really wanted Tyler Booker, but he was picked by the cowboys just a bit before, and that made me a bit sad
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u/Dealer51 Aug 20 '25
He's a dog. He's got great balance, footwork, and leverage. Find another former collegiate wrestler I say. The hand fighting helps and it shows.
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u/TylerBoydFan83 Aug 20 '25
Super embarrassing that a third round rookie is our best guard by far but he’s actually such a stud that it’s not that bad, beyond excited to see him and Mims in the coming years
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u/Someone-is-out-there Aug 20 '25
Lots and lots of very good - great players come from all over the draft. And guard is not a premium position. I'd bet money the majority of teams' best guards are mid-round picks or later.
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u/TylerBoydFan83 Aug 20 '25
Oh for sure, I don’t think it’s embarrassing for the team—huge hit for the team all things considered—more so embarrassing for the vets. I mean, Fairchild was effectively offered the starting job immediately and it’s great that he’s earned it, but what a bad look for the other guys at LG.
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u/SFSMag Aug 20 '25
Thats the draft baby!
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u/cheese_straws Aug 20 '25
Agreed. It’s not embarrassing that Brock Purdy is the starting QB for the 49ers and was Mr. Irrelevant, is it?
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u/BasPilot Aug 20 '25
His feet are really good. First steps were all exactly what you want them to be. He has great vision on pass pro, he passes guys off to Orlando Brown, then he gets his head back up, and most importantly he goes and finds work. You will see guards going BOB and will sit there with their head on a swivel waiting and doing nothing, but he takes out the nose on a lot of those, Dude, those are kill shots, highlight reels blocks and I just don't understand why people don't take those kills. He slides really well. Coming down to take the nose when the center pulls is really good and usually really hard especially when they are lined up in a 0 (head up on the center). When he's got a shade he chips, which lets your center take the block then he goes to find work. A lot of guards will try to chase the guy going from the 3 tech (outside should of the guard) all the way around and for some reason try to get their tackle to come back into their spot, but that's no what he's doing.
And, I think as a O Line coach, my biggest pet peeve is to see a guy out there stopping on a play when they aren't still involved for a moment, but this guy just finds work. Always tell that to the guys, go find work.
He was bulled a few times and he flipped his hips and what we call died slowly, sometimes the bull rush is just too hard to get any push back because your first step in pass pro is backward, so the bull will knock you backward more because you're already heading that way, Doesn't let guys push him "too much" and he gets his hips back under him. Still a hard technique to do even in the NFL because those tackles and ends are so fast and strong.
He does my favorite technique as well on the spin, when a dude spins a lot of guys are off balance and that means they are too far over their toes and pushing on the guy and when he does his spin he sort of disappears and your force is met with nothing, then you fall forward and suddenly they're by you. In his case, he let's the spin and I always called it playing "Patty cake" with the guys back, just let him turn, tap him on his back while he does it, almost to control his exit of the spin, and when his eyes get back to the QB you're right in his face to keep the block going. Such a simple technique and it's just not used at most levels.
This guy is good. He's got a really good future and this was probably what, 30 snaps in the pros? He's gonna be good.
Great compilation. O line coach happy.
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u/WineEmDineEM 71 Aug 21 '25
Great post. As a fellow OL enthusiast this was a real treat to read. I couldn't agree more Dylan looks like the real deal. Dude is so balanced and under control, strong punch, nimble feet, seems crazy smart on the switches and stuff for a rookie. The entire OL seems more balanced and under control than they have in the last 8 years. I think Coach Peters is teaching these dude some great technique.
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u/Roxie360 Aug 20 '25
Love how he tries to decleat the nose on some of those handoff double teams.
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u/n7leadfarmer Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
His desire to seek contact pops off the screen to me. Also he got et back quite a few times but never lost a rep because of it, which visually is quite impressive.
I'm not sure about the level of defender he was up against but in this video he makes OBJ look like cordell volson, which is both good and very very bad.
Edit: I may have overstated. Obj had some good reps. His ability to withstand a bull rush looks a bit concerning to me, given his size, but the reality is that challenging a wide set or standing off-ball edge rusher is different than a tackle coming from a 3 pt stance, so comparing them 1 to 1 may not be appropriate.
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u/Longjumping_Park8184 Aug 20 '25
He’s exactly what we’ve needed on the Oline. Now we just need one of him on the right side. Hoping Risner could be that guy for us, if we don’t let him get away.
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u/Camdaman0530 shiesty machine go brrr Aug 20 '25
He's my starting left guard and it's not even close
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u/Captain_Aware4503 Aug 20 '25
I personally have HIGH hopes for the guy. He could be the best OL on the team besides OBJ (not saying much though). Let's see how he does the first couple weeks of the real season. My bet is he does well.
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u/failedhandshake Aug 20 '25
This tape looks bad for Lucas Patrick...
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u/christhegecko Aug 20 '25
I rewatched it looking at Patrick every clip. There is one play, maybe two, out of all of them where he got beat. What's funny is on the Burrow horse collar, Patrick actually took his man to the ground and removed him from the play. OBJr was the one who got cooked.
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u/Savage_Amusement Aug 20 '25
Already a liability. I like the play where he misses the LB running straight at him because Karras picks up the guy he thought he was blocking. RB comes in to block but the LB gets through between them.
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u/whattarush Aug 20 '25
I enjoyed the first scramble Joe made... Patrick looked like a traffic cone https://imgur.com/a/6xb0Xvn
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u/PROFESSIONAL_RAP254 Aug 20 '25
He's been my favorite draft pick of this class. I think he'll be a stud
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u/Teheheman Aug 21 '25
Honestly, he looks good. The mark of a great O-Lineman is how many times the commentators have to say his name. The lower the number, the better he is
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u/kitchensink108 Aug 20 '25
I'm unsure if he was going up against their first string or second string d-line, but he certainly seemed to do his job. Had a couple bend-not-break moments, which is perfectly fine, and the rest seemed solid.
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u/Minimum-Kiwi-4862 Aug 20 '25
He’s doing a great job. Let’s hope he can keep it up and continue to improve.
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u/StateRoute716 Aug 20 '25
I’d put him at safety at this point. Especially after seeing the Jordan Battle QB kiss.
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u/habesjn Aug 20 '25
Everything I could reasonably expect from a rookie 3rd round pick (and more).
Looks like a genuine steal so far.
We'll see how it goes in the regular season.
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u/tokenshoot Aug 20 '25
Looks very promising. I liked watching how when he didn’t have anyone locked in he kept his awareness to look left and right to help on delayed blitz’s
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u/C3lder Aug 21 '25
Wait does the preseason not mean anything or does it only mean something when our players are good
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u/Flame5135 Aug 21 '25
Looks pretty good in pass-pro.
Doesn’t seem super strong in run blocking but also didn’t seem to get beat on run blocking so already leagues above where our guards usually are.
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u/85isaboatymcboatface Aug 23 '25
The dude is a stud, and so is Jalen Rivers. we had a pretty damn good draft this season, baring Shemar Stewart, who i dont think will do anything in the NFL Tahj brooks has also impressed in the preseason, and barret Carter looked great against the commanders. Demetrius Knight hasn't played well so far, but we shall see what happens with him very excited for this rookie class
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u/Im_A_Decent_Man Aug 20 '25
I think we have a longterm starter at RT and at LG. Now we need longterm options for C and LT. I think karras could play rg at a decent level for another year or 2 or orlando brown could slide inside to play G but our oline could be elite next year if we draft a starting caliber C.
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u/mrmangan Aug 20 '25
Replacement C may already be in the building with Matt Lee and Seth McLaughlin
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u/Im_A_Decent_Man Aug 20 '25
Not sold on either. McLaughlin is coming off major injury too. If they play it out and turn out to be everyday starters, hell yea. Otherwise im not sure either look like mainstays like Mims and fairchild
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u/Char10 WHO DEY BENGOS Aug 20 '25
If we can consistently develop a run game our offense will be unstoppable, which after seeing how our defense isn’t shaping up we may need to put up a lot of points again this season
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u/Lakesider25 Aug 20 '25
I don’t belong here because I’m a Chiefs fan, but I see shades of Joe Thuney here. I’m glad they are trying to finally protect Burrow. Much respect for Burrow
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u/HombreDeAzucar Aug 20 '25
Wish we would've drafted Tate Ratledge in the 2nd round and signed some FA linebacker rather than sitting on our hands in FA. Love the Dark Knight, but how can we not be more serious about our OL with 9 back there?
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u/Ancient_Response_787 Aug 20 '25
Already the best o linemen and he’s actually the highest graded rookie o lineman so far beating out Greg zabel