Bills selected Kentucky CB Maxwell Hairston with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Hairston (5’11/183) entered Kentucky as an unheralded three-star recruit who vaulted on to the draft radar in 2023 when he led the SEC with five interceptions, two of which went for touchdowns, to go with 11 PBUs and a sterling 85.3 coverage grade. Last year a shoulder injury kept him to seven games, and he had trouble in coverage against South Carolina (89 yards), Texas (61 yards) and Louisville (84 yards). Hairston’s 66th percentile coverage grade and 21.8 yards per reception average indicates room for growth in his technique, but there’s no teaching his speed. His shoulder injury likely affected his willingness to be aggressive against the run, as his six missed tackles, 27.3 percent MTF rate and 38th percentile tackle grade will attest. An elite athlete, Hairston led all Combine participants with a 4.28s 40-yard dash along with a 39.5-inch vert and 10’09” jump, which were both 93rd percentile marks for a pristine 9.63 RAS. Hairston shows good closing burst and can run downfield with just about anyone, he’s a tenacious competitor that is aggressive when making plays on the ball. He’s tough to fool on deep shots and doesn’t waste steps reacting to feints and manipulation, but his play strength got exposed by Matthew Golden and Ja’Corey Brooks, who effectively out-leveraged Hairston on short and intermediate routes. Hairston is on the smaller side physically, but he’s as fleet-footed as it gets.
