Right after the Cincinnati Bengals selected Dax Hill in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, Mel Kiper Jr. called it one of the draft’s top steals, judging him to be perhaps a top-15 talent.
It turns out other teams agree.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently flashed his team’s big board publicly while trying to explain his team’s first-round pick (Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa at No. 24).
Jon Machota of The Athletic broke down that big board, which includes Dax Hill at No. 18 overall.
In terms of safeties, that was only behind Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton (drafted 14th by Baltimore) and Lewis Cine of Georgia (drafted 32nd by Minnesota).
So while the Hill pick might have caught some outside observers off guard, it’s clear at least one other NFL team had high grades on him.
What he brings to the Bengals — and it’s quite a lot — is something they need both right now and long into the future.
