B. J. Hill

Bobby Gene Hill Jr. (born April 20, 1995) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack and was selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Early life Along with football, Hill participated in track and field, baseball, and basketball at West Stanly High School. As a senior, Hill recorded nine sacks, an interception, and five rushing touchdowns, playing both defensive end and running back. He was listed as a three-star defensive end recruit by 247Sports.com and committed to NC State on June 12, 2013, to play football, over offers from East Carolina and North Carolina

College career Hill attended and played college football at NC State from 2014 to 2017. He became a starting defensive tackle midway through his freshman year, and maintained his starting role for his entire college career, playing in 51 games with 44 starts. He ended his career with 187 tackles, nine sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and 10 pass deflections. He was named Honorable Mention All-ACC for his senior season in 2017, recording 57 tackles, three sacks, and a forced fumble. His success led to him being invited to play in the 2018 Senior Bowl.

Statistics Year School Conf Class Pos G Tackles Interceptions Fumbles Solo Ast Tot Loss Sk Int Yds Avg TD PD FR Yds TD FF 2014 North Carolina State ACC FR DT 11 19 20 39 6.5 1.5 1 0 0.0 0 1 0 0 2015 North Carolina State ACC SO DT 12 23 27 50 11.0 3.5 0 0 0 3 0 0 2016 North Carolina State ACC JR DT 12 16 23 39 2.5 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 1 2017 North Carolina State ACC SR DT 13 18 37 55 3.5 2.0 0 0 0 3 0 1 Career North Carolina State 76 107 183 23.5 8.0 1 0 0.0 0 9 2 2

Professional career Pre-draft On December 4, 2017, it was announced that Hill had accepted his invitation to play in the 2018 Senior Bowl. Hill was dominant during Senior Bowl practices and impressed scouts and team representatives. On January 27, 2018, Hill played in the 2018 Reese's Senior Bowl and was part of Denver Broncos' head coach Vance Joseph's North team that lost to the South 45–16. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed all of the combine and positional drills. Hill's overall performance helped raise his draft stock, as he finished third among all defensive linemen in the bench press, fifth in the three-cone drill, tied for 11th in the 20-yard shuttle, and finished 15th among his position group in the 40-yard dash. On March 19, 2018, Hill participated at NC State's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. Hill also attended a pre-draft visits with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Hill was projected to be a second or third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the fifth best defensive tackle prospect in the draft by Scouts Inc. and was ranked the seventh best defensive tackle by DraftScout.com.

NFL predraft height ft = 6 height in = 3 1/4 weight = 311 dash = 4.99 ten split = 1.74 twenty split = 2.88 shuttle = 4.53 cone drill = 7.28 vertical = 26.5 broad ft = 8 broad in = 5 bench = 35 wonderlic = arm span = 33 hand span = 10 5/8 wingspan ft = 6 wingspan in = 6 1/4 note = All values from NFL Combine The pick used to select Hill was acquired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for Jason Pierre-Paul. On June 7, 2018, the Giants signed Hill to a four-year, $4.04 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $1.02 million. In Week 3, against the Houston Texans, he recorded his first career sack. In the next game, a loss to the New Orleans Saints, he recorded his second sack of the season. In Week 13, against the Chicago Bears, he had three sacks in the 30–27 overtime win. He finished the 2018 season with 5.5 sacks, 48 total tackles, and two passes defended.

Hill's statistics dropped in the 2019 season, only recording 36 tackles and one sack. Hill recorded his first sack of the 2020 season on Mitchell Trubisky in a game against the Chicago Bears in Week 2. thumb Hill in a game against the Washington Redskins He finished the 2020 season with one sack, 32 total tackles, and one pass defended.

Cincinnati Bengals On August 30, 2021, Hill was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals for center Billy Price. In the 2021 season, he finished with 5.5 sacks and 50 total tackles. In the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs, he intercepted Patrick Mahomes when the Bengals were down 13–21 with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter, leading to the game-tying touchdown in the eventual 27–24 overtime victory.

On March 15, 2022, Hill signed a three-year, $30 million contract extension with the Bengals. He finished the 2022 season with three sacks, 68 tackles, four passes defended, one forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries. In the 2023 season, Hill finished with 4.5 sacks, 51 total tackles, two interceptions, five passes defended, and one fumble recovery. In the 2024 season, Hill finished with three sacks, 56 tackles, and four passes defended.

On March 12, 2025, Hill signed a three-year, $33 million contract extension with the Bengals. In the 2025 season, Hill finished with four sacks and 66 total tackles.

NFL career statistics

Regular season YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD FF FR Yds TD 2018 NYG 16 12 48 32 16 5.5 6 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2019 NYG 16 5 36 15 21 1.0 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2020 NYG 16 0 32 15 17 1.0 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2021 CIN 16 2 50 29 21 5.5 6 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2022 CIN 16 16 68 30 38 3.0 4 0 0 0.0 0 0 4 1 3 0 0 2023 CIN 17 17 51 26 25 4.5 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 2024 CIN 15 15 56 25 31 3.0 7 0 0 0.0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2025 CIN 17 17 66 29 37 4.0 5 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Career 129 84 407 201 206 27.5 34 2 0 0.0 0 0 16 1 4 0 0

Postseason YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD FF FR Yds TD 2021 CIN 4 3 13 6 7 1.5 2 1 3 3.0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 2022 CIN 3 3 9 4 5 1.0 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0Career 7 6 22 10 12 2.5 3 1 3 3.0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0