OL/DL Prospect, Dylan Porter sits down with Building The Dam

Dylan Porter is a 6-foot-5, 290-pound lineman from Elmira High School, in Oregon. He’s aggressive and has a motor that does not quits.

Our very own David Mays sat down with Dylan and asked him a few questions.

DM: I hear that you are going to workout with former Beaver Devan Fillipe. What are you hoping to gain from the personal workouts?

DP: What I plan to gain from these private lessons is more knowledge and athletic prowess (such as improvements on strength, power, speed, and quickness) which will better myself as an athlete and get myself ready for the next level of college football play. It will also give me a workout instructor and plan to use for myself on my own.

DM: Which position do you prefer to play?

DP: I prefer to play OL. Before my senior year this would pertain to a pulling OG, but my senior year I was put as a OT and enjoyed seeing the success I had.

DM: I hear you have preferred walk on offers from a few schools and are expecting more in the near future. What has sold you on hoping to play for Oregon State?

DP: The education the school offers and the proximity to home. I want to be able to try and pursue something in the Engineering field, or something math related; Oregon St. has one of the best programs on the West Coast and has the best in Oregon, for this field. While having the possibility to pursue this dream I would also be able to play high caliber football on the D1 FBS level. Overall the school seems like a great fit for me.

DM: Can you summarize your style as a football player?

DP: In a typical football game: my mindset offensively is always how can I create the best outcome for my team. I generally use my explosive power to destroy whoever I need to block and my quickness to get me there. I will sometimes watch a target defensive player on film and try to plan on ways to attack him, I also take notes mentally of these players in game. Defensively, as an End I always focus on outside contain first then cut up at the depth of the ball, and at tackle I go for disruption. Also I would like to add another aspect of how I play in a game and that would be my efforts to always keep my team morale up and be sportsman-like to my opponents even if they are not in return.

DM: Who’s was your favorite athlete growing up?

DP: Professionally, I have never really had a lot of athletes that inspired me. My closest to that though, would have to be wrestler Jordan Burroughs for his ability to never give up. Other than that my favorite athletes were two lineman from my high school: Zane Wardwell and the late Kyle Smith. These two have showed me who I want to be athletically and the shown me how I want to leave a legacy for our school.

DM: What did you learn from playing High School Football ?

DP: I learned how to cooperate with others as a team, the value of hard work, and how to be a leader.

DM: Favorite subject from High School?

DP: Math actually.

DM: What was your Civil War experience like and what did you take away from it?

DP: This Civil War game was my first ever. It was an amazing experience! It gave me insight of what I could be able to do in the upcoming years: playing in front of thousands against some of the best football players in the country would be a fantastic experience.

DM: What is your biggest strength and what do you need to work on?

DP: My biggest strength is my mental and physical endurance. My unwillingness to never give up has gotten me far in a lot of aspects in my life. As for improvement, I always need to improve on the "little things" in my life as my coach would always say. I would also like to not overthink simple situations.

Dylan Porter is a wonderful kid, who is looking forward to proving himself at the D-1 level. His athleticism doesn’t end on the gridiron though. He’s the #1-ranked wrestler in the state (in his weight-class) and he also lettered in track. Dylan is listed as a 2 star prospect, but that could change.

So far, he’s been offered preferred walk-on spots at: Notre Dame, Rice, Yale, Columbia, Oregon State, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, South Dakota Tech etc...

Here’s to hoping Dylan Porter ends up at OSU!