Buffalo Bills cornerback Maxwell Hairston was drafted by the team in the first round of this past NFL Draft and there is hope that he can help solidify a position that has been an achilles heel weakness for the team. Coming out of the University of Kentucky, Hairston brings a lot of speed and has great recovery time if he falls a step or two behind. However, just like anyone else, Hairston has some areas to improve on.
He’s a bit undersized and will definitely need to get stronger especially seeing as how he could be very well taking on some of the best receivers in the game this coming year like Ja’Marr Chase and A.J. Brown.
Even though we can’t expect Hairston to be this standout rookie right off the bat, he does have pressure to be an immediate contributor because the Bills are in a wide open Super Bowl window. Buffalo has been knocking on the door to get to the Super Bowl but they have come up short every year since 2020 due to the defense. The Bills are hoping that Hairston and Christian Benford can become a dynamic duo on the outside.
Maxwell Hairston struggling early on in Bills training camp is concerning
The Bills started their training camp this past week and Maxwell Hairston had a bit of a rough time in today’s practice. According to Alex Brasky, there was a matchup of Maxwell Hairston lining up against wideout KJ Hamler and Brasky reported that Hamler "left Max Hairston in the dust before securing a short completion."
More 1 on 1s between WR/DBs, KJ Hamler leaves Max Hairston in the dust before securing a short completion #Bills #BillsMafia
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) July 25, 2025
Then after that matchup, Brasky reported that Hairston went up against Joshua Palmer and Palmer made a “nice contested catch on a back-shoulder throw”.
Joshua Palmer up against Max Hairston in 1 on 1s, Palmer goes up to make nice contested catch on a back-shoulder throw. Palmer 📈 #Bills #BillsMafia
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) July 25, 2025
Even if you want to say that this is great news from an offensive perspective, seeing Hairston struggle against them is a bit concerning. I know it’s early on in training camp, but Hairston is going to see a lot more talented receivers and if he is not able to live up to expectations against his own teammates, it makes you wonder how he will perform against an opponent.
The rookie is learning early on that the NFL is different and that he will have to put in extra work to get up to the speed of the game. It’s okay to have a bit of a rough practice, but the expectation is that he will become a starter sooner than later.