Bengals left guard Dylan Fairchild, ranked third this week among rookie guards and No. 42 among all guards by Pro Football Focus, wouldn't know it because he says he puts blinders on.
But he's making people notice. PFF says the third-rounder from Georgia is having a better year than Colts All-Pro Quenton Nelson, Browns Pro Bowler Wyatt Teller, and Alex Cappa, last year's Bengals' starting right guard.
Bengals.com, senior writer Geoff Hobson sat down with Fairchild before Thursday's practice for a wide-ranging interview in which he revealed a deep commitment to his faith, his wife, and a joyful obscurity on the offensive line.
The Conversation
GH: You were a two-time state wrestling champ in Georgia. Were you ever beaten?
DF: That's funny because there's like a false rumor that goes around that I was never beat. I actually got whooped a little bit my freshman year. A couple of times. It wasn't pretty, but that's part of the growing pains. I was 15 going against a 19-year-old that was 60,70, pounds heavier than me. And that's just part of it. You learn.
GH: Was that a big point for you?
DF: Oh, yeah, I hated it. I hated it. I hated it. I can't stand to lose.
GH: How did they beat you?
DF: Some of the guys were just bigger and stronger than me at the time. I was just a young kid. Some of them, just plain and simple, just bigger and stronger. Sometimes, there were really technical things that I could do to give myself a better chance to win … I was trained very well and by the time I was a sophomore, I mean, I felt ready to win a state championship. It didn't pan out. I do remember the guy that beat me. His name was Tomari Fox. He beat me in the semifinals my sophomore year. Played football at UNC,
GH: What did you learn from that?
DF: I learned that I was okay with that loss, which I never thought I would be okay with a loss. But I was because I had given everything. I did throw up, actually. I came off the mat and I profusely threw up in the toilet because I was so tired. I chugged so many water bottles after the match. Because I gave everything.
At the end of the match, I was seeing black everywhere. I mean, I gave everything I had. I think I lost like 6-5, or 6-4. It was a really tough match. He got up and I got up, and he gave me the little bro hug, and was like, 'You're the toughest dude I ever wrestled.' So I was like, 'Alright, I can take losing because I gave everything, and take it'. He was a football player. He was a big dude, really strong.
GH: Did you use that loss to fuel you?
DF: Of course. I didn't lose another one after that.
GH: Junior, senior year unbeaten Georgia state champion.
DF: Yes sir.
GH: Is what happened with that kid your sophomore year kind of what you're going through now?
DF: A little bit, yeah, a little bit. You live and you learn. You go through moments. Football is more moments to me. There are some moments that are great. There are some moments that are like, 'Oh my gosh what am I doing? I should have just done that.' And the next time that moment comes, you think back
and you're like, 'All right, I remember what happened.'
GH: How do you think you're doing now?
DF: I don't know. I put blinders on. Week to week, I put blinders on. In the game, I let it go, and then I'll watch the film. I'll analyze what I did right, what I did wrong, and then I'll put blinders on.
GH: What do you think is the one thing you've improved on the most?
DF: My recoverability, probably in the past game, is something that I've improved on just over time. And my balance. The ability to flip my hips back into square and recover. I think something I need to get better at is just the run blocking aspect of it.
I think all of us up front, we've got to continue to run that race and just chase down that path of greatness in the run game. Because that's ultimately what opens up the pass. It's going to help us a lot. That's something that I'm ultra-focused on is just getting better in the run game. Fitting up on these combos with the guys, and just being as good as I can be in all the aspects of the sport.
GH: We briefly talked last week and you said there really had been no surprises yet in the NFL.
DF: Right. It's tough. It's tough. Very hard.
GH: What's the toughest game so far after four games in?
DF: I'd probably say the Vikings game, yeah, just all across the board. It was just a tough game for us. I think we could have executed way better. I think that just up front, we could have had a bigger impact in the game. And again, part of being an O-lineman is putting stuff on your back and saying, 'It starts with us. If we're not good, then we don't give anybody else a chance to be good.' We have to do better up front. I've got to do better individually. And I'm sure a lot of the guys feel the same way, and that's what we've been really pursuing since the season started, just continuing to get better.
GH: Do you think teams are trying to take advantage of your inexperience and rookie right guard Jalen Rivers' inexperience?
DF: Probably. I come into the game knowing that, and I try to take advantage that they're trying to take advantage.
GH: Overall, from Opening Day to now, where do you think you've improved the most?
DF: I'd say just the feel of the game. (Left tackle) Orlando (Brown Jr.) and (center) Ted (Karras) have helped me a ton with that. Just feeling the game, and just kind of dialing it down in terms of the simplicity of it. It's a super detailed game, and you've got to lock in and key in on those details. But it's still football, you know? It's complex, but it's simple. You can make it simple.
GH: Who's the best guy you've played so far in the four games?
DF: I'd say Jonathan Allen or Zach Allen. Malik Collins is another one. He got me a little bit.
GH: You didn't exactly get a break coming out of the box. Malik Collins was Opening Day.
DF: And then Jonathan Allen Week Three in Minnesota. Arik Armstead was Week Two. Then we got Jonathan Allen, and then Zach Allen, and this week we've got big guys. Tyleik Williams. And Aidan Hutchinson is another really great pass rusher.
I think he's all over the line, really all over the place. Of course, they're going to want to rush him from all phases of the field. That's kind of how they do.
GH: Anything you've taken away since Opening Day?
DF: Fundamentals matter a lot, and I knew that coming in. You've really got to lock into your fundamentals on every rep. It only takes one rep, and your day is ruined. I always say that it's kind of like cops and robbers. The robbers have to get it right every time. Cops just got to get it right once. Your day's made if you get it right once, but we've got to get it right every time.
GH: You're a robber?
DF: Exactly, exactly. But that's kind of the mentality of the business. You know that you've got to get it right every time, and if you don't, then you're wrong.
GH: We had a Who-Dey Conversation this week on the Bengals Weekly show about young players we think are showing good things. Dave Lapham, the Bengals radio analyst who played a decade on the Bengals offensive line, talked about you and Jalen.
DF: Oh, thank you. I love that. I see him all the time. I say what's up to him. I wanted to introduce myself to him a few weeks ago.
GH: Did you know he got in the Bengals Ring of Honor?
DF: I did. It's a great story, great guy to have around.
GH: You ever talk to him?
DF: A little bit. Sometimes we'll chat it up for a little bit. I've got to get around him more.
GH: You seem like a very committed guy.
DF: I am who I am. I got married young because I wanted to start a family. I want to be great at football. I want to be on the offensive line doing the dirty work because people don't see it or they don't really know, unless you've done it or coached it. It's a dirty job and I like it.
GH: You fancy yourself as a grinder. Where does that come from?
DF: My dad has always been there for me no matter what was going on with me or him. He's a mentor. He coached me, and he instilled in me sayings. Things like never giving up … And I embraced that. I embraced everything that has happened in my life. I've leaned heavily on God.
GH: How long have you been married now?
DF: Six months.
GH: You had a lot of things going on with the draft at that point.
DF: It's kind of what you said. I'm committed. I'm a committed person. I knew that no matter what happened, I wanted to be with her, and that she's going to ride with me, and no matter where we go, it's me and her.
GH: How did you and Elizabeth meet?
DF: In high school. We knew each other two years, really, before we started really even talking. God works in crazy ways. I saw her in a restaurant on a date with another guy. I was with my mom and one of my best friends, and two weeks later I FaceTimed her, and I knew after I hung up the phone. I knew I was going to marry her. I don't know how, I knew. I just did. That was six years ago.
GH: Did you know that you and Jalen are the first rookie guards to start a game for the Bengals since before you guys were born?
DF: No. But you see a lot of guys coming into the league and starting now. Guys I came in with the draft. And I saw (right tackle Amarius) Mims come in here and start last year.
GH: You played on the line with Mims at Georgia. Got a good Mims story from college?
DF: Mims immediately called me (after the draft) because I think he knew it was coming. I love Mims. He's funny.
GH: Any examples?
DF: He'll just yell some stuff sometimes. Not outrageous. But it's funny. He's a funny, goofy guy when you really get to know him. But he's honestly like a really good football player, and he's dialed in when he's supposed to be dialed in. But he's also got that side of him too, like when you're not dialed, when you're just kind of just hanging, wasting time, he's got some funny stuff.
He seriously is a beast. I mean, I've watched him do his combine, and his 40, and just all the things that you do at that event. And, I mean, he's ridiculously fast, he's ridiculously strong, his build is insane. I've never seen somebody like him. There's one guy like him. He's at Georgia right now. He's a 6-8 basketball player (now football tackle), Jah Jackson. He's the only guy that may have Mims beat.
GH: What do you like about Jalen?
DF: I love Jalen. He's very level-headed. He's one of my best friends already. I mean, super level-headed person. You'll never catch him slipping. He's always on his P's and Q's and just dialed into what we're doing from week to week. And he's just very smart guy. I think he had like a 4.0 GPA. Very smart. To himself. Emotionally intelligent. Just overall a very intelligent person.
Me and him and (backup center) Matt (Lee) hang out pretty much before every game at the hotel. We just watch football and talk and sometimes just me and Jay, we just talk.
GH: Do you have a lot in common?
DF: We have a ton in common. We're both young athletes and grew up in the same region. The south. We joke all the time. He's funny. We'll talk really every day. Just whatever the talk of the day is. We'll just talk and bounce ideas off each other. And then the same thing with OB and Ted and Lucas (Patrick) and all the guys. We all talk and share ideas, share different combinations, different sets, different ways to deal with different looks.
GH: How big is Teddy's pool house? I know he got you there the weekend after the draft to get you acclimated.
DF: It's pretty big. It's nice. I like it a lot.
GH: You were there a couple of nights, right?
DF: It's like a living room with a bathroom, and I slept on the couch. Big couch, though. We got ahead of the game. Just the playbook. It's really what I was trying to look for. A friend who introduced me to himself and the playbook.
When we met after the draft, he came up to me and was like, if you want to come up, come up. And I was like, I'm going to take him up on it. I pretty much went home and already had everything packed and came back. I was ready to go.
GH: You've got some impressive tattoos.
DF: Oh, thank you.
GH: You have the name of a Bible verse on your right leg. Corinthians 10:31.
DF: 'Whether eating or drinking, or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.'
GH: Why did you put it on your leg?
DF: I knew I was going to pursue sports. I knew that I was going to be on a stage at some point in my life. Whether that's collegiate, professional, and I just wanted to continue to remind myself that at the end of the day, that everything that I do is for God's glory, not mine.
GH: What's that on the right bicep?
DF: A lion for strength. And (next to it) I got a dove for here, for peace. Some of the only two animals referenced in the Bible. And I've got a clock for wisdom (in between the lion and dove). A three-handed clock, because we don't know. We can't tell the time. We don't know when God's coming back,
Two of those hands are on 11:11. My wife was in a major car wreck with her brother. The time was literally 11:11 when they flipped. She vividly remembers checking the clock. It was in a land cruiser. She and her brother walked out completely untouched. It was like a miracle. And I just thought it would be a cool little tribute to put in for her. And then a numeral seven. God works in the numeral seven.
GH: An interesting week for the Lion.
DF: I'll have to put a big old red X on it or something.
GH: Just for Sunday.
