The Cincinnati Bengals feel like a team littered with underappreciated players.
There are certainly plenty of candidates. D.J. Reader doesn’t get enough credit as an elite interior force. Tyler Boyd’s a dominant slot guy. It’s easy to forget how statistically dominant Joe Mixon has been despite poor lines and schemes before last year. Logan Wilson’s already directing the entire defense. Chidobe Awuzie is a No. 1 corner. It goes on and on.
And then there’s slot corner Mike Hilton.
NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund made the case as Hilton being the most underrated player on the Bengals outright:
“Coverages that utilize more than four defensive backs have become a common sight in the NFL, and slot corner is now more of a full-time position than one that can be filled only situationally. Hilton, who signed with Cincinnati in 2021, is a great example; he played slot corner on 76.2 percent of his snaps in his first year with the team, per NGS, and improved his effectiveness in each game last season. Computer vision shows that in his first 10 games as a Bengal, he allowed a passer rating of 83.0 in coverage (that is, when he was within 3 yards of the nearest target at the time the ball arrived). Over his last 10 games (including playoffs), that number reduced to just 61.2. NGS shows that when he was the nearest defender in 2021, he allowed a 72.0 completion percentage in the regular season (+4.3 percent completion over expected) but only a 66.7 completion percentage (-5.2 percent CPOE) in the playoffs. It stands to reason that the 35th-highest-paid corner will improve even further with more time in this system.”
The former Steelers starter and big free-agency win has morphed into a continued success story for the Bengals as he stands out on the field and as a recruiter during free agency.
Hilton might get the vote of most Bengals fans in the underappreciated category, but it speaks to the culture of the current locker room that so many guys would seem to qualify.
