Bengals Beat: Bengals Believe Dax Hill Has ‘Grown In The Right Direction’ On Defense, Will He Help Lead Unit To The Light In 2026?

CINCINNATI — In a year of inconsistency in the Bengals defense, Dax Hill has distinguished himself as one of the most consistent players on the unit.

This week, Hill was recognized for the numerous qualities he possesses that make him one of the presumed building blocks of the Cincinnati defense in 2026. Hill received Cincinnati’s 2025 Ed Block Courage Award, symbolic of “professionalism, great strength and dedication” while also serving as a role model in the community.

Like the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, one player from each of the 32 NFL teams is honored annually with the distinction, which is coordinated through NFL athletic trainers.

Hill, a fourth-year player out of the University of Michigan, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 5 of the 2024 campaign against Baltimore. Hill, who spent his first two seasons lining up at safety, had earned a role as a starting cornerback prior to the injury. He underwent surgery in late October 2024, and proceeded with an extensive recovery process.

“There is not a more deserving player than Dax Hill for the Ed Block Courage Award,” said Bengals Director of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer Matt Summers. “Dax is a very consistent ‘everyday’ guy. His unwavering work ethic and trust in the rehab plan allowed him to successfully return to the field in 2025 without hesitation. Dax is also very gracious with the time he commits to community service, and his humility further reflects the values he poses for his teammates to vote him as this year’s recipient.”

It’s no secret that the defense will need to be completely re-tooled this offseason. It’s been a disastrous year for the defense but Hill is one of the pieces that won’t be thrown out with the bathwater.

Hill – along with DJ Turner – figures to be a cornerstone of the Bengals secondary in 2026. He came in as a first-round pick in 2022 and was projected to be Jessie Bates’ replacement as a starting safety in 2023. Then he was converted to a corner in the summer of 2024, beating out Turner for the starting corner opposite Cam Taylor-Britt. But he tore his ACL in Week 5 and had to wait until this season to reassume his spot in the Bengals secondary. That began with a role as starting nickel corner, replacing Mike Hilton. Then, thanks to ineffective and inconsistent play and eventually injury to Taylor-Britt, he moved to outside corner where head coach Zac Taylor and defensive coordinator Al Golden like him the most.

“Dax has done a lot for us over his four years here, and I think his best position is outside a corner, and he’s done an excellent job of that,” Taylor said. “He’s got tremendous length and physicality and speed, and again, similar to what we’re talking about with other players who are going through their second, third, fourth year. Now, the experience is really showing up on how to anticipate and so I just, I think he’s really grown in the right direction there, and somebody we can certainly count on.”

Hill has demonstrated every skill that is necessary to play on the outside and believes he’s earned the right to think he’ll be the starting outside corner, opposite DJ Turner heading into next season.

“I feel like I’ve put myself in a good position these last few weeks, and the confidence has definitely risen since I’ve been out there. So yeah,” Hill said.

Turner, Hill’s teammate at Michigan, has given a sense of stability to the secondary, and Hill is thrilled to see how the both of them are assuming their roles.

“We’ve all seen how well he’s been performing,” Hill said. “Once I made that transition (to outside corner) out there, I just wanted to uphold what he’s been doing, in a competitive way. I feel like having a guy on the outside like that only just brings the best out of you.”

Defensive coordinator Al Golden has leaned heavily on Hill all season, and will continue to do so in 2026, when he will be in the fifth year of his rookie deal. Last spring, the Bengals wisely picked up his first-round fifth-year option at $12.68 million.

“First of all, as a human and someone that’s in the locker room, I have the most admiration for him, just the way he operates on a daily basis,” Golden said this week. “The man he is. He’s just so great to be around. And his journey, I wasn’t here for all of it, but I guess outside, inside, at safety, then to nickel, now to corner, and I can safely say now, with this body of work, that he’s found a home, and he’s really working at it.”

Hill has bounced around like a pinball in the Cincinnati secondary, playing every position, from safety, to outside corner, to nickel and back to corner. Defensive backs coach Chuck Burks has worked closely with Hill to help him at every turn.

“Chuck’s been working with him. He’s in the trenches with him every day. And he’s getting better at the line of scrimmage with his jams in. That was a good challenge for him (last Sunday) with Harrison on the edge on the line of scrimmage with his length, and he did a great job there, and he’s really he’s really grown, and he deserves the success that he’s having, and obviously excited about his trend.”

Away from the field, Hill supports several community initiatives around Cincinnati. He regularly commits time to MIB Agents of Osteosarcoma Alliances, a nonprofit organization focused on raising awareness, funding research and supporting families affected by osteosarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor affecting predominantly in teens and young adults.

For the Bengals’ My Cause My Cleats game in Week 12, Hill wore cleats dedicated to MIB Agents and hosted local families at a team practice. Hill also participated in a school supply drive at Rockdale Academy in Cincinnati this past August, donating over 250 kits for students ahead of the academic year. He additionally has supported the Salvation Army West Side Corporation, volunteering time at a toy shop drive to pack gifts for families during the holidays.

Hill was cleared to return to practice ahead of training camp this past summer, and once again earned a starting CB spot entering the regular season. He has started all 16 games at CB this season and recorded 86 tackles, two TFLs, 11 PDs and one INT, along with three tackles on special teams. He has continuously displayed his versatility within the Bengals’ defense, lining up both on the inside as a nickel CB and on the perimeter as a boundary corner.

“I want to thank the entire organization and my teammates for thinking highly of me in coming back from my injury,” said Hill. “Representing the team well, coming back and making an impact was my big focus. I thank everybody for being in my corner and I’m happy being back with the guys.”