Written by Mykail Mereau
Buffalo Bills drafted their first pick of the NFL Draft, which the position of their draft pick wasn’t a surprised to the national media and Bills fans themselves as they predicted Buffalo would take a cornerback in the first round. But it’s the player name that’s make it a surprise because people thought that Trey Amos would be the cornerback the Bills would’ve taken, but instead they chose Maxwell Hairston the speedy cornerback from Kentucky. Here’s three things to know about the Bills newest cornerback.
His maximize speedy as a cornerback
Hairston has tremendous speed at the cornerback position. He was the fastest player during the combine this year, running the 40 yard dash in 4.28 seconds and reaching a top speed of 24.25 mph. Bills general manager Brandon Beane had comments regarding Hairston’s speed and bringing that type of speed into the cornerback room. “He’ll add obviously speed to our DB room and we think he’ll pair well with what we already have.” He’s much faster than previously cornerbacks the Bills drafted in the first round with Kaiir Elam having an 40 yard dash of 4.39 seconds and Tre’Davious White dash for 4.47 seconds.
Maxwell’s ball hawking skills
Hairston’s has great coverage skills with ball hawking that you want in a cornerback. He led the SEC back in 2023 with five interceptions in 13 games, which he had two touchdowns in return. Last year he missed five game with a shoulder injury and only had one interception that resulted in a returned touchdown. Despite his injury, he still had earned a second-team All-SEC recognition. The season before that, he an honorable mention All-American along with All-SEC second team. Beane mentioned Hairston’s tackling ability and describing him as a “willing tackler” for a cornerback. “He’s got the obviously coverage skills, ball skills that you look for in a corner,” Beane said.
Hairston’s charisma and personality
Hairston’s shown his charisma during the draft broadcast and nicknaming himself as “Mad Max”. Buffalo got his personality scouting report from his former college teammate Ray Davis, Bills running back. Beane reached out to Davis and ask him Hairston’s personality and Davis spoke highly on him. “We always try to do that with players that play with guys on our team, that know kind of the Bills’ culture and how we do things.”, Beane said. After being drafted by the Bills, Maxwell gave an excitement interview to NFL Network, saying “LET’S GET TO WORK BUFFALO!” with being overjoy of getting drafted. Beane gave his thoughts after seeing Hairston’s smile and showing his personality from the draft TV broadcast interview. “If you guys were watching the TV, you could see his infectious personality and smile.” Beane added on saying that Hairston is a good kid.
