Michigan Football: NFL Draft scouting report on Daxton Hill

We take a look at the NFL draft scouting report about Michigan football standout Daxton Hill who is expected to be picked in the early rounds this spring. 

This year’s safety class is not super deep, as Kyle Hamilton from Notre Dame is the consensus number one safety on the big board. Michigan football‘s Dax Hill is second. There’s probably no possible way for Dax to move up to the #1 safety on the big board, so what does Dax bring to the table as an NFL prospect?

Profile

Position: Safety

School: Michigan

Current Year: Junior (2022 NFL Draft enrollee)

Height: 6’0

Weight: 192 pounds

Scouting Report

Daxton Hill was a three-year starter for the Michigan Wolverines, starting as a true freshman in 2019, and holding down the job all through his junior season. Daxton Hill was a highly touted recruit for Michigan football with NFL bloodlines. From Day 1, Daxton Hill was expected to meet expectations, and meet them he did.

Positives

Daxton Hill lined up all over the field for Michigan football the past three years, as he was able to show his versatility, going from a man coverage look under former defensive coordinator Don Brown to Mike MacDonald’s zone and man mixture. He has lined up all over the field during his Michigan career, from single-high free safety, safety, outside corner, and occasionally lined up as a dime linebacker in the past.

Dax does his best work playing as the single-high safety or as the nickel corner in the slot. He is smooth and an efficient mover in coverage and has very good sideline-to-sideline speed. His closing speed is exceptional, as he uses his elite speed to his advantage in those situations.

In zone coverage, Dax shows excellent eye coordination, instincts, and awareness to move out of his spots in his zone to locate the ball and make a play, whether it be a pass deflection or interception.

One of the best attributes about Daxton Hill is his short-area quickness. His closing burst is elite, and it allows him to locate the ball to make a play on it or run down and blow up a designed screen play or outside run scheme.

As mentioned before, Daxton Hill’s speed is definitely his greatest attribute, as he runs a verified 4.3 40-yard dash. This speed allows him to react extremely quickly and make plays on the football.

Dax will never be the one to shy away from contact, as evidenced by his huge hit to knock Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz out of the football game in the third quarter. Dax is quick to come downhill, and fills running lanes, and is a good open-field tackler.

Lastly, Hill is a great competitor. When tackling, he always wants to make the opponent feel it, as he looks to deliver a huge blow upon contact with an opposing player. He plays the right way, oozing confidence, and plays through the whistle, even when he isn’t near the play. He plays much bigger than his skinny frame.

Negatives

There really aren’t too many concerning red flags that pop up when scouting Daxton Hill. One area that wasn’t quite showcased through Hill’s Michigan football career was his ball skills.

Although he has elite closing speed and seemed to be around the ball a lot, he didn’t really become that game-changing ballhawk that people expected.

For his entire career, he has only intercepted four passes, and half of those came in his junior season. Part of that might have been because teams were afraid to throw the ball in his direction, but when given the opportunity, he didn’t always quite take advantage. He should get ample opportunities in the NFL, as it’s much more of a passing league.

Although Daxton Hill is very fast while covering receivers he sometimes gets lazy in coverage, in his transitions flipping his hips, as that can allow a receiver to get slight separation on him. Some of the touchdown catches that he allowed this season came as a result of those slight breakdowns in technique and just laziness.

Also, overall, because of Dax’s skinny stature, he can get abused by bigger and stronger receivers. His lack of size and strength can leave him at a disadvantage occasionally on 50-50 balls, as he was susceptible to a few of those last season.

Lastly, because Dax is such a fierce competitor and he really is really self-confident, he may need to be reigned in just a little bit for taunting penalties. The NFL is a lot more strict about those things, and Dax has been known to instigate a few situations in the past, not necessarily always drawing penalties, but in the NFL, that will be monitored closely.

Overview

Overall, Daxton Hill is going to be a solid player in the NFL. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him earning future All-Pro awards in the NFL.

He checks all of the boxes that NFL teams want in a safety. He is very versatile, as he is able to play all of the corner and safety positions. He has elite speed and can cover north-to-south fluidly. He loves contact and isn’t afraid to get his hand’s dirty tackling. He quickly diagnoses plays and blows them up. Lastly, he is a great competitor, is team-first, and exudes confidence. Whichever team drafts him is getting a future star.

He has nothing to prove at the NFL Combine or at Michigan’s Pro Day. We’ll see what events he participates in, but he is safely a Day 2 pick (2nd round) with the potential to be a late first-round selection.