Dax Hill was playing like a top-dollar corner down the stretch of 2025 season
The former first-round pick has earned the right to stay outside.
The Cincinnati Bengals may have created a new secondary question when they selected Washington cornerback Tacario Davis with the 72nd overall pick in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. But the answer should not involve moving Dax Hill again. Davis, a 6-foot-4 corner who began his college career at Arizona before finishing at Washington, gives Cincinnati rare size and length on the outside.
Naturally, that has led to speculation about how the Bengals will arrange their cornerback room, and whether Hill could slide back inside to the slot. That would be a mistake. Hill has already moved around enough since entering the league.
The former first-round pick and Michigan alum was drafted as a safety, shifted through multiple roles, and only seemed to truly settle in once the Bengals moved him to outside corner in Week 11 of last year after an injury to Cam Taylor-Britt. From that point forward, he was not just serviceable. He was one of the better corners in football.
According to Pro Football Focus (via TFG Football), Hill allowed only 15 receptions on 30 targets after the move, a 50% completion rate that ranked ninth among 61 qualifying cornerbacks. He gave up just 22. 6 yards per game, recorded six pass breakups, allowed zero touchdowns, and earned PFF’s 10th-best cornerback grade during that stretch.