Arguably the biggest reason that the Cincinnati Bengals have quickly ascended into an AFC powerhouse is that this organization hit at a high percentage during the 2020 and 2021 NFL Drafts. Unfortunately for this team, the two drafts after that have certainly not hit the mark and that is just one cause for the team’s apparent slip in talent over the past few seasons. If this team wants to finally overtake Kansas City as the best team in the AFC, they are going to have to hit home on the 2024 NFL Draft and beyond.
Cincinnati Bengals 2022 First Round Pick Finally Living Up to Expectations
After this team rode a miraculous Cinderella story all the way to the Super Bowl in early 2022, this team selected defensive back Dax Hill with the 31st pick of the NFL Draft. Given the fact that Cincinnati had All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III and team leader Vonn Bell at the safety position, this was credited as a terrific value pick late in the first round. Understandably, those two players dominated the field in 2022 and Hill was left to primarily contribute on special teams.
After Bates and Bell both left during the 2023 preseason, Hill finally had his time to shine but unfortunately, he struggled to step into the starting safety position. Last season, Hill graded out with an overall PFF grade of 50.9 including a disastrous 43.0 coverage grade. While most people around the organization chalked those numbers up to learning curves in his first season as a starter, the coaching staff appeared to want to make a change.
Over the offseason, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo made the decision to bump Hill to the cornerback position to allow him to prosper in individual coverage assignments rather than be relied on the play center field. After the first preseason game, that experiment appeared to be a dramatic success after Hill made several spectacular plays on the outside at the cornerback position. In his 33 total snaps (30 of which were at the cornerback position), Hill earned a dominant grade of 90.2. While it is possible to disregard this performance as a preseason fluke, that sort of performance certainly turns some heads.
One of those heads would be Anarumo after he showed off some of his talents on the outside this past week against Tampa Bay. “You can see that he’s really starting to get comfortable out there,” Tobin said, according to journalist Dan Hoard. “He’s showing us the traits that he can be an outstanding corner in this league.”
2. Dax Hill broke up 3 passes in the preseason opener and is growing increasingly confident at outside corner.
“You can see that he’s really starting to get comfortable out there,” said Duke Tobin. “He’s showing us the traits that he can be an outstanding corner in this league.” pic.twitter.com/zhQRgRfsW5— Dan Hoard (@Dan_Hoard) August 12, 2024
In the organization’s first depth chart announcement before the Tampa Bay game, Hill was listed as a backup to second-year cornerback D.J. Turner. Turner struggled during his rookie season and if Hill continues to play at a high level, look for him to overtake Turner on the depth chart. After that, Turner would be relegated to battle with newcomer Josh Newton at the dime spot behind starting corner Cam Taylor-Britt and starting nickelback Mike Hilton. While there may not be much proven talent amongst the defensive back ground in Cincinnati, there is going to be plenty of young talent that has the potential to grow into an elite unit over the next year or two.
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