Mike Hilton credits Bengals front office for building 'the right way'
Culture quickly became a buzzword when Zac Taylor was introduced as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach in 2019. Creating an environment that was unified throughout the locker room and coaching staff in order to achieve maximum success on the field was the vision, it just needed the right pieces to be fulfilled. Taylor has been […]
Culture quickly became a buzzword when Zac Taylor was introduced as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach in 2019. Creating an environment that was unified throughout the locker room and coaching staff in order to achieve maximum success on the field was the vision, it just needed the right pieces to be fulfilled.
Taylor has been good on his word, instilling a winning culture in the Queen City that can be attributed to additions such as nickel cornerback Mike Hilton.
Coming from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021, Hilton has brought the exact skill set the Bengals identified playing against him for several years in the AFC North. But Hilton is more than just an explosive slot blitzer and tackler, he bought in to what the Bengals were building immediately and has facilitated the precise leadership Taylor has preached.
Now entering his third year in Cincinnati, Hilton knows what's on the horizon. Massive contracts are about to be handed out to stars Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins. The identify of the club surrounds Burrow and his playmakers, and that will only be intensified once those deals become a reality.
But Hilton, with two years remaining on his own contract, appreciates the front office's ability to continue building the defense wisely and effectively.
"I feel like they're building the roster the right way," Hilton said on the Bengals Beat Podcast. "Obviously we got the monsters on offense, but the whole front office and those coaches are finding the right guys defensively."
Look at the Bengals' last two NFL Draft classes for proof. Six top-100 picks all spent on the defensive side of the ball, with four in the secondary alone. A youth movement has been well underway in the defensive backfield that was only accelerated with the departures of Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell, but the 29-year old Hilton isn't going anywhere. He might even appear grizzled in comparison to his teammates back there.
The energy Hilton brings snap for snap is unmatched on a defense that prides itself on taking no plays off. Their frenetic nature is evident, especially in the biggest games of the season. The Bengals are a complete team because of how much weight the defense carries—both in the box score, and in anatomy of the club.
"We might not have the star power, but you can ask some of the guys on offense, we feel like we're the heartbeat of the team," Hilton said of his unit. "They get all of the pub and everything, but the defense we feel like we carry this team, and it's just who we are as a defense and we take pride in it."
That isn't changing so long as Hilton is manning the slot.
