Through offseason workouts, the transition from safety to outside corner has gone about as expected for former first-round pick Dax Hill.
The Cincinnati Bengals decided this offseason to move Hill from safety, where he started 17 games in 2023 but struggled, to outside corner, where he’ll compete for the starting gig. Hill recently said the first few practices were a smidge different but found a groove as the Bengals broke for the summer.
“It’s been good,” Hill said, via Laurel Pfahler of the Dayton Daily News. “I feel like obviously it was a transition, one I’m going to have to make but I feel comfortable. I trust the coaches. They’ve been preparing me well. Right now, just with OTAs, there’s only certain things we can do right now, but they’ve been getting me prepared.”
Hill ran with the first-team defense during mandatory minicamp, per Pfahler, ahead of DJ Turner II, a 2023 second-round pick, who, like Hill, struggled last season.
Hill’s speed and versatility could give him an advantage. The Michigan product played safety and corner in college. However, the majority of those corner snaps came in the slot, not the outside.
“To be honest, a lot of people think I played corner before, but I haven’t played too much, so I really have to start from square one and take it a day at a time,” Hill said. “Right now, I feel like it’s been good. First day it was just a little bit different. Now I feel a little bit better in my techniques and certain things like that.”
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor noted this spring that he’s seen strides from Hill in the position switch.
“I hate to speak for him, but he certainly looks very comfortable playing out there at corner, and I think (cornerbacks coach) Chuck (Burks) has done a really good job of getting him ready and helping him compete,” Taylor said. “I think that’s a really good room right now from a competition standpoint, and Dax certainly has continued to make improvements over the course of the spring and put himself in a position that we feel really good about.”
The Bengals bringing back Vonn Bell and singing Geno Stone this offseason bumped Hill from a starting safety spot. They’ll see if he can edge out Turner for the starting corner gig. It will be one of the training camp battles to keep an eye on when Cincinnati opens practices on July 24.