NFL analyst sees Bengals rookie's career mirroring former Pro Bowler longtime fans will be thrilled to see mentioned

The next success story for a guard drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals will be the first in a while. The club plans on Dylan Fairchild being that guy.

Cincinnati has struggled mightily in recent history to develop homegrown players at the position since the days when Clint Boling and Kevin Zeitler were the starting tandem from 2012-16. Zeitler was actually the last guard the Bengals drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft before Fairchild joined the club in April.

That's an easy way for great expectations to be placed on you immediately, but Zeitler still isn't the peak that Fairchild could eclipse in Cincinnati. You'd have to go back to the 1980s to find that mountain, and one NFL analyst sees Fairchild summiting it during his career.

Dylan Fairchild compared to Bengals great Max Montoya

Max Montoya, one of three starters from the Bengals' 1981 and 1988 Super Bowl teams, is considered the best guard in the franchise's history. He played 11 years in Cincinnati and another five years for the Los Angeles Raiders. He's also up for induction into the Bengals Ring of Honor this year.

Montoya powered through seven years, six as a starter, before earning three Pro Bowl nods in his final four years in Cincinnati. As Fox Sports' Rob Rang points out, Montoya is the only guard to have ever made a single Pro Bowl for the Bengals. 

Rang also sees a path in which Fairchild is the team's best guard since Montoya.

I like his bulk, strength, agility and mentality and think he’ll prove a longtime starter, perhaps emerging as the best guard for the Bengals since Montoya, the only player at this position ever selected to the Pro Bowl from Cincinnati. — Fox Sports' Rob Rang on Fairchild

A starter for a decade who developed into one of the better players at his position is just about the best case scenario for any draft pick, let alone the 81st overall selection in the third round. Draft status is not necessarily a barrier here anyways as Montoya was a seventh-round pick at a time when the draft was 12 rounds long.

Fairchild can be half of that and the Bengals would still happily start him for years to come. That's how desolate their luck as been developing the position in recent years.