Let it be known through his first four games as a starting NFL safety, the Bengals’ Dax Hill is the only player in the league with four tackles for loss, three passes defensed, two interceptions, and a sack.
Not three-time Pro Bowl safety Derwin James. Not AFC North werewolf T.J. Watt. Not Hill’s old mentor with the Bengals, Falcons safety Jessie Bates III, one of the NFL’s interceptions leaders with three.
“That’s why he’s a first-round pick,” says safety partner Nick Scott, the veteran who came over from the Rams to aid Hill replacing Bates and Vonn Bell. “Everyone can see the upside. He’s always around the ball. Getting balls out when he’s in man coverage, which is really special as a safety that can cover like a corner. When he’s on his Ps and Qs, he’s one the best players on the field.”
There were times he strayed from those Ps and Qs during some key moments in Sunday’s Good-Bad-and-Ugly outing in Tennessee. But Robert Livingston, who has coached some of the most productive safeties in Bengals history, knows Hill is making just his fifth NFL start this Sunday in Arizona (4:05 p.m.-Cincinnati’s FOX 19) and a starter’s first year is a continuing education.
“The highs are great and the lows are poor. You want to live somewhere in the middle,” says Livingston, who knows he’s speaking for every player and coach on defense. “You never have to worry about his athleticism. God gave him a phenomenal amount of ability. It’s that getting that consistency, making sure his floor rises.
“The thing I’ve been proudest of Dax is how the light has come on with his communication, which can be a challenge for a young player. How he’s doing stuff that maybe isn’t sexy, but improving on things like passing off in a zone.”
The Michigan-bred Hill, who turned 23 two days before the Titans game, was 21 when his high football IQ and 4.38-fast 40 bolted out of Michigan on the 31st pick. He ended up playing more nickel than anything else in those first 131 snaps last season that he’ll double on this Sunday’s first series.
2023-10-06 01:03:07
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