The Cincinnati Bengals have selected Michigan DB Daxton Hill with the 31st pick. Grade: A
With the X pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the X select Michigan DB Daxton Hill.
GRADE: A.
Here. I’ll just place what I wrote in my final mock draft, when I had the Bengals selecting Hill right here with the 31st pick:
The Bengals did a lot in free agency to upgrade their offensive line (a veritable and obvious necessity), and they may do more in this particular mock. But they also need help in the secondary — Chidobe Awuzie and Jessie Bates III are great defenders, and the addition of Hill, who can play everywhere from the slot to the deep third to outside cornerback, would give defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo all kinds of options.
Height: 6’0 1/4″ (39th) Weight: 191 (5th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.38 seconds (95th)
10-Yard Split: 1.47 seconds (97th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 34 inches (28th)
Broad Jump: 121 inches (53rd)
3-Cone Drill: 6.57 seconds (97th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.06 seconds (87th)
Wingspan: 79 1/4 inches (92nd)
Arm Length: 32 1/4 inches (71st)
Hand Size: 9 1/2 inches (63rd)
Bio: Coming out of Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa (where he was born), Hill was anything but a secret. He was a five-star recruit as a safety and occasional receiver, and was the No. 1 safety prospect in the 2019 class, and the No. 1 prospect in his state overall. Hill committed to Michigan, then Alabama, then back to Michigan on signing day. A three-year starter for the Wolverines, Hill excelled under defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who’s now the Ravens’ defensive coordinator. Another Ravens connection: Hill’s older brother Justice, a running back from Oklahoma State, was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft by Baltimore.
Over three seasons with the Wolverines, Hill played 311 snaps at free safety, 308 in the box, 906 in the slot, 35 at cornerback, and 33 at the defensive line.
Stat to Know: Sports Info Solutions defines its Hand-on-Ball Percentage metric as the “Percentage of plays where a defender got their “hand on the ball.” This includes breaking up or intercepting a pass as well as forcing or recovering a fumble.” Only Kyle Hamilton (1.9%) had a higher HOB rate among safeties last season than Hill’s 1.8%.
Strengths: Teams in need of a slot defender who can run in sub-packages right now would do well to consider Hill. He has the range to cover through the middle of the field, and the closing quickness to get to balls other defenders might not.
On this interception against Wisconsin, you can once again see the match qualities, closing speed and ball skills from the slot. Hill can both work the receiver’s route, and break off for the big play.
And here, it wasn’t Aidan Hutchinson or David Ojabo who was making Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett’s life miserable — it was Hill off the edge on a blitz. He’s excellent in this role.
And while he didn’t play the deep third a lot in Michigan’s defense, Hill certainly has the athletic profile to do that at the next level — especially two-deep.
Weaknesses: There are instances in which Hill, for all his coverage speed and quick-twitch skills, can lose to receivers in the recovery phase, and he doesn’t always have the last-second burst to make up for it. This appears to be more a matter of pre-snap positioning and post-snap understanding than any athletic issues. In other words, it’s coachable.
And let’s just say that Hill’s tackling won’t provide a lot of teach tape. He must improve his technique in this regard.
Conclusion: I would put Hill up there with Baylor’s Jalen Pitre as one of the two best slot defenders on this list — Hill will bring that value to his NFL team right away, and that extends to playing overhang roles in the deep slot. From there, it’s a decent transition to more of a interchangeable free safety role, which could make Hill a key cog in any defense — just as he was in college.
NFL Comparison: Jimmie Ward. Ward has been one of those underrated multi-position defensive backs ever since the 49ers took him with the 30th overall pick in the 2014 draft. But if you talk to his teammates, they’ll tell you that Ward is the guy who holds his defenses together with his acumen all over the field. Hill, who may turn out to be better than his college tape shows, may have the same transformative effect in the right home.
