The Cincinnati Bengals struggled on the back end last season after losing Jessie Bates in free agency—and pushing Dax Hill into the starting lineup at safety. In free agency this offseason, they went out and signed Geno Stone and brought back Vonn Bell, immediately raising questions.
Or at least it raised one question: where does Dax Hill fit? The Bengals did everybody a favor by answering that question very specifically yesterday. And he did so despite the team not drafting any pure safeties, but while facing questions about the former first-rounder.
“It would be fair to Dax before everybody starts Tweeting it all out — he’ll be in the corner room right now”, he said, via the team’s website. “Now that we’ve gotten through the draft and seen how the draft is going to lay out, it does make sense for me to address that now”. Indeed, the team’s website already lists him as “CB” now.
The 31st-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Hill played very nearly every single snap last season. The Bengals ranked 28th in passing defense, however, largely for struggling to keep a lid on things. They clearly lacked the faith for Hill’s suitability in that role. However, they knew when drafting him that he could end up elsewhere in the secondary. And so did he.
“He’s done a good job”, Taylor said, praising the maturity with which Hill has handled the uncertainty of his role. “He’s known that, and he did a good job speaking how I wanted the guys to do that until I say something. But he’s going to have a chance to go out there and compete in the corner room”.
Notably, reporters followed up by asking Taylor if he planned for Hill to compete for a starting job at cornerback. He gave a long-winded answer that eventually included the word “compete”, but not the word “start”. He added, “we think it’s the best opportunity right now to help our team”.
The Bengals already have Cam Taylor-Britt and D.J. Turner at cornerback on the outside. Former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Hilton is a stalwart in the slot defender role. I don’t see how or where Hill cracks the starting lineup, quite frankly, even at cornerback.
Just looking at it from the outside, it seems likely Hill is headed for a dime role. His ability to play outside, inside, or at safety will provide them with a valuable chess piece—but one who may only play 15-20 snaps. That’s not what you draft a player in the first round to do.
Now in his third season, Hill faces a critical juncture in his career. The Bengals have to decide a little over a year from now whether to exercise his fifth-year option. He’ll have to find some way to crack the starting lineup and see the field as much as possible.
