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Dylan Fairchild Leads All Rookie Offensive Linemen in Key Metric Following Win Over Commanders

Cincinnati may have struck gold here.
Russell Heltman|
Cincinnati Bengals guard Dylan Fairchild (63) takes the field during Bengals Camp practice at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2025.
Cincinnati Bengals guard Dylan Fairchild (63) takes the field during Bengals Camp practice at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2025. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI — The Bengals have the best rookie offensive lineman in the NFL through two preseason games. At least that's the story Pro Football Focus grades tell after Dylan Fairchild's first 44 NFL snaps.

Through two games, he leads all rookie offensive linemen with an 87.6 PFF grade. That includes just one pressure allowed and no sacks on his ledger. The left guard looks to be taking full control of that starting spot as Cincinnati figures out what to do with its chasm at right guard.

“There are always things we can clean up," Head coach Zac Taylor said about the offensive performance through two games. "And so, I don't think it's where we want to be yet for Cleveland. We’ll assess this tape and see where we were good in the protection and run game, and how detailed we were in the pass game. But I like where this offense and this team are at right now at this point in training camp, I really do. The defense has – we've had some days where it's been difficult days, the defense has definitely won the day. So, I like where guys are at from a health perspective, we're in a good spot. And so we just got to have one more great week, and then we kind of get that bonus week for Cleveland and be ready to go.”

It remains to be seen how much (if any) Fairchild will play in the Saturday preseason finale against Indianapolis. He's certainly proven he belongs so far, and playing him would risk more injury at Cincinnati's most beat-up spot. 

Cody Ford missed yesterday's game with an injury, and fellow guard Lucas Patrick also left with a mid-game injury. It may be smarter to just keep Fairchild on the sideline and keep him healthy for Week 1, especially if the Colts don't play any starters for him to sharpen up against.

Joe Burrow is confident in the starting offensive line protecting him.

“I do, yeah, I do. We’ll make it work with whatever we've got," Burrow said about liking his protection despite facing multiple pressures across three drives last night. "I think it's been pretty good. And we didn't go up against the ones last week, but today we did, and I felt pretty comfortable back there.”

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Russ Heltman
RUSSELL HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH.  Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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