In Maxwell Hairston’s first three career games, he has shown a lot of promise to Bills fans in hopes that he can become a cornerstone player for the franchise. After suffering a knee injury that landed him on IR to start the season and didn’t make his season debut until Week 9.
Against Carolina, he played well in coverage and helped the Buffalo defense shut down Andy Dalton. When it came to Kansas City, he not only went toe-to-toe with Xavier Worthy in the routes, but he picked off Patrick Mahomes late in the 4th quarter that essentially put the game out of reach for the Chiefs.
Last Sunday against Miami, he had a bit of a “Welcome to the NFL” matchup against Jaylen Waddle, where Waddle managed to break free of him a couple of times and brought in the ball over Hairston in the endzone, in which Hairston was called for defensive pass interference.
However, Hairston did pick off Tua Tagovailoa which gave him his second straight interception and now, he will be looking to do something that hasn’t been done since 2013 in Bills’ history today against Tampa Bay.
Maxwell Hairston seeking third straight game of recording an interception
According to the Buffalo Bills’ PR X account, if Hairston can record his third game with an interception, he will become the first Bills rookie since Kiko Alonso back in 2013 with three straight games with a pick.
For those who remember Alonso, he had so much promise for the Bills as a rookie where he finished second for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, putting up phenomenal stats that included 4 interceptions. Let’s put it this way, Matt Milano became the player that Bills fans were hoping Alonso would become.
Before his career could really get going for the Bills, Alonso tore his ACL prior to the 2014 season but never played another down for the Bills as he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for running back LeSean McCoy in a shocking trade.
When it comes to Hairston, he has shown fans that he can compete at the NFL level and can run with almost anyone in coverage. The sample size of his production is very limited, but we know that he’s fast and has a good sense to attack the ball at the right time. With Baker Mayfield looking to pass it around, Hairston could find himself having a busy day.