Dylan Fairchild takes starting reps at left guard

The Cincinnati Bengals’ o-line had their best game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers a week ago. Dalton Risner was a big part of that success, as it has become clear he’s finally acclimated to the Bengals’ offense. Despite Risner’s tremendous success the last two weeks, he may be getting replaced in the starting […]

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The Cincinnati Bengals’ o-line had their best game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers a week ago.

Dalton Risner was a big part of that success, as it has become clear he’s finally acclimated to the Bengals’ offense.

Despite Risner’s tremendous success the last two weeks, he may be getting replaced in the starting lineup by Dylan Fairchild, as the latter took the former’s spot in practice.

Dylan Fairchild is taking starting reps at left guard today at practice.

Dalton Risner looking on. Jalen Rivers at right guard.@WLWT

— Jaron May (@jaron_may) October 22, 2025

What does this mean for Risner, who has been a top 20 guard against the Steelers and the Green Bay Packers?

Dalton Risner has been a Top 20 graded guard (PFF) the last 2 weeks as the Bengals offense has gotten going. https://t.co/FbaI58WVKh

— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) October 22, 2025

We’ll have to see what offensive line coach Scott Peters’ plan is.

To his credit, Peters finally got the running game going against Pittsburgh. And QB Joe Flacco has only been sacked three times in two games.

While it’s probably a combination of things, but the o-line is finding its identity.

The highest-graded offensive lines from NFL Week 7, according to our OL Impact metric:

🛡️ Chiefs – 85.8
🛡️ Bears – 84.8
🛡️ Steelers – 84.1
🛡️ 49ers – 82.9
🛡️ Broncos – 82.1
🛡️ Patriots – 81.7
🛡️ Bengals – 78.9
🛡️ Panthers – 78.9
🛡️ Jaguars – 78.0
🛡️ Giants – 77.9 pic.twitter.com/pkUKxSgWJV

— PFSN (@PFSN365) October 21, 2025

You can watch this short clip of the offense from last week’s big win.