Cincinnati Bengals 'really excited' to land Daxton Hill
Michigan defensive back Daxton Hill was selected with the No. 31 overall pick of the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. This gave him the opportunity to bring his versatile skill-set to the defending AFC Champions. One would think as long as quarterback Joe Burrow is there, Hill will be part of a contender.
The Bengals are plenty excited to add the Michigan star to their defense.
“Daxton Hill has been a tremendous player for a long time,” head coach Zac Taylor said Friday. “He’s a great player coming out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s been at Michigan the last three years and has made a tremendous impact on one of the best defenses in all of college football. He played a lot of different roles for them. Everyone in that building speaks very highly of Dax — not only the play style but the intangibles.
“The stuff on the field, and the stuff off the field. As you guys know, that’s exactly the type of traits that we look for in our players. He embodies everything that we’ve searched to be about. We’re really excited that he was where he was last night in the draft and that we were able to get him at No. 31 and add him to the mix. He’s going to be a great weapon for us for a long time.”
Hill nearly slipped into the draft’s second night, but came off the board with the second-to-last first round pick. It never concerned him and he is happy he was able to experience that with his family.
“I really didn’t have a feeling like that,” Hill said. “I was just going into the night with my family praying that everything would be around the first round. That was my expectation — to be a first rounder. Going in throughout the night, I was just enjoying it with my family.”
Daxton Hill reflects on time at Michigan, more
Hill appeared in 33 career games at Michigan with 23 starts playing multiple roles in the secondary. He also contributed on special teams. He was an All-Big Ten honoree in 2021, racking up 69 tackles (4.5 for loss), 0.5 sacks, 11 passes defended, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Hill feels like the Michigan football program and its head coach helped mold him into a pro.
“Coach Harbaugh had me prepared,” he said. “I appreciate it really now in retrospect, just seeing all the hard practices we did — it was kind of like a means to an end. I knew it was for a reason, and it was for this reason right now. So I definitely feel like he prepared me for this situation.”
Hill and EDGE defender Aidan Hutchinson were the program’s two first-round picks. Hill had some contact with his former teammate, who is now the young face of the Detroit Lions.
“I was really excited to see him be in his hometown,” Hill said. “He’s from Plymouth, so not too far from Detroit. With the season he had and career he had at Michigan, I’m glad it all turned out well for him. To share that moment with him and be first-rounders, the entire Michigan brand was on display and it showed what Michigan can produce.”
Hill now heads into the heart of Ohio State Buckeye country and has bragging rights. He will make sure that is known with his new teammates. One of them includes former Michigan running back Chris Evans.
“Oh that’s day one (laughs),” Hill said. “That’s day one. I got bragging rights for it now since I’m 1-1. But hey, this year was a big win for us.”
