Bengals just gave Dax Hill a shot to prove he's worth betting on

NFL teams have to decide by May 1 if they're going to exercise their fifth-year option on their first-round picks from the 2022 NFL Draft. For the Cincinnati Bengals, that means a decision needed to be made on Dax Hill, who the team spent the 31st pick on three years ago.

The Bengals have indeed decided to exercise their fifth-year option on Hill, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. This might surprise some people considering Hill hasn't necessarily looked like a first-round pick during his time with the team. He was initially drafted to be the successor to Jesse Bates, who left in the 2023 offseason and mostly sat behind Bates during his rookie season.

In 2023, with Bates off to Atlanta, Hill started all 17 regular-season games but fans didn't love what they saw from him. Eventually, he was moved to cornerback for the 2024 season and was looking to be a solid solution for Cincinnati at the position until an ACL injury sidelined him for all but five games of 2024.

By the Bengals picking up the fifth-year option, it shows that they think he can be in the team's plans at cornerback for the foreseeable future. Or at least they're going to give him a chance to show that he can be that for the franchise.

Bengals make unexpected Dax Hill decision that says a lot about their plans

Had the Bengals not moved to Hill to cornerback, they'd probably not have picked up Hill's fifth-year option because he hadn't been very impressive until he switched positions. There was potential with him at cornerback and, considering how roughed up Cincinnati's defense got in 2024, this team can't afford to let a talented defensive player walk away.

Hopefully this decision pays off. The hope is that Hill can bounce back from injury, play to the standard he was before the injury, and the Bengals will be thrilled they gave him another shot. Fingers crossed.