The Cincinnati Bengals were adamant after drafting safety Dax Hill in the first round that he’d get to play all over the secondary.
Not only has that been the case at Bengals training camp so far, Hill’s getting a trial by fire of sorts — both by filling in for the absent Jessie Bates during the franchise tag standoff and being asked to line up against the likes of Ja’Marr Chase all over the field.
Hill had some of those reps against Chase on Thursday at camp, including an interesting one-on-one captured by ESPN’s Ben Baby and Mike Petraglia of CLNS media:
Pardon the bad shot, but rookie safety Dax Hill gets a PBU against Ja’Marr Chase pic.twitter.com/QTOdPDmCAY
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) August 4, 2022
Dax Hill with a good compete rep against Ja'Marr Chase, breaking up the pass, possibly using too much hands but still. pic.twitter.com/GlwCYb0jKi
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) August 4, 2022
Hill played all over the secondary in college and will do so again in the pros. He’s expected to see snaps in the slot and at boundary corner spots when necessary. Should the team not re-sign Bates long-term, he’ll likely move into the free safety spot full time as a sophomore.
As for right now, it’s telling that Hill is already being asked to cover Chase (and seemingly holding up well enough) while Chase works from the slot, something else the team wants to see more of next season.
