The Cincinnati Bengals view the position change for former first-round pick Dax Hill as a net positive.
While the outside narrative points to a flop of an experiment at safety and a messy position change in Hill’s third year, Bengals coaches view it as improving the cornerbacks room.
Just ask cornerbacks coach Charles Burks, who says Dax fits nicely amongst the skill set and will give the team even further gameplan options for third downs depending on the opponent.
Here’s Burks on the topic, courtesy of Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com: “You’ve got DJ Turner with his top-end speed, Dax with his speed and size, Cam Taylor-Britt with his speed, power, and ball skills. When DJ Ivey gets back (from ACL surgery), you have his length. You have Mike Hilton (who played some safety last year in addition to the slot), you have Jalen Davis. You need that kind of versatility.”
It’s notable that former seventh-rounder DJ Ivey gets a shout there too, considering the team added highly-regarded cornerback with Josh Newton in the draft.
With Hill, concern remains about his future. He played 131 snaps, mostly as a slot man as a rookie, then shifted to the Jessie Bates safety spot last year. The defense flopped, the team brought in Geno Stone and re-upped with Vonn Bell and will now have Hill compete at outside and inside corner. Developmental-wise, there’s a massive risk in asking a player to revamp his position going into his third year.
But if Hill finds a home and the Bengals are better for it, the concerns will fade. The defense is indeed more versatile in the secondary than last year now and the pivot after a stumble could prove to be a success.
