ORCHARD PARK – When the Buffalo Bills made the somewhat surprising decision to pick Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun in the second round of the draft, you had to wonder what that might mean for Max Hairston.
Remember, the 2025 first-round pick was drafted by the previous coaching regime to play in a different defensive scheme, and then his rookie season was plagued and shortened by a couple different injuries.
So when Brandon Beane maneuvered back into the bottom of the second round to grab Igbinosun, it was not hard to jump to the conclusion that perhaps new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard wasn’t completely sold on Hairston as the player to start on the boundary opposite Christian Benford.
Well, Leonhard put the kibosh on that Tuesday when he was asked specifically about Hairston, saying “We love Max. I was a huge fan of Max coming out of college as well. And we’re not down on any of the corners that we had; we needed depth.”
No doubt, the cornerback position was depleted as the Bills entered the draft with Tre’Davious White no longer on the team and Dorian Strong recovering from neck surgery. There was no one behind Benford and Hairston, so you knew the Bills were going to add.
But doing it in the second round was an indication that Igbinosun isn’t just a depth piece; he’s going to be given every opportunity to go head-to-head with the mighty Max in the spring, and then during training camp this summer, and may the best man win.
“When I seen him get drafted, I was excited,” Hairston said Tuesday following practice at One Bills Drive. “Let’s come in, let’s work. We’re getting young in the secondary.”
Hairston welcomes the competition because at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, he has always had to fight to win a job. Whether he wins the starting job or becomes part of a rotation with Igbinosun isn’t his main concern, though; it’s staying healthy and staying available for whatever role he ends up with.
“That was my No. 1 priority going into the offseason,” Hairston said. “Just making sure my body is 100% back to feeling great, making sure that I’m putting muscle on – basically to add armor so I don’t gotta deal with the little knick-knack stuff like that. Just being real intentional and getting healthy, honestly.”
It wasn’t a completely lost season for Hairston. After he returned from his training camp knee injury in Week 8 at Carolina, he saw action in the final 11 regular-season games with three starts in a time-share with White. He played 348 total defensive snaps, 196 in coverage where he gave up 15 completions on 25 targets for 203 yards and three TDs while also making two interceptions. However, he missed the playoffs after he suffered an ankle injury in the regular-season against the Jets.
Now that he has a year under his belt, Hairston is locked and loaded for the competition with Igbinosun and anyone else the Bills might bring into the mix.
“Honestly, it feels a lot different,” he said of his second year. “Going into the offseason, having some freedom, it felt good, but honestly, too, just coming back here, feeling more mature, feeling like I’ve got a better understanding than I did last year. Just taking the confidence, taking the comfortability going into year two and just trying to press it.”
Leonhard knows how vital it is to have strong cornerback play, especially having watched Patrick Surtain II and Riley Moss lock down opposing receivers during his two seasons as the Broncos’ defensive passing game coordinator.
“I firmly believe you have to be able to rush the passer, you have to be able to cover, and we needed more depth in the room in order to do that,” he said. “Obviously, from the speed and athleticism standpoint, (Hairston) was the top of the class. And then you add in the ball skills – the ability to take the ball away. He flashed that last year.
“You saw some big-play potential, and I felt like he was a guy that you have to create some vision for in your defense, however you get to that, right. When he’s staring at the quarterback, good things seemed to happen in college. I think Buffalo did a great job schematically with him last year, and we’re just going to continue to grow.”
Learning from a former NFL defensive back like Leonhard, who began his NFL playing career in 2005 as a safety for the Bills, is something that Hairston seems to be reveling in.
“Just picking his head, Jim is super smart, one of the smartest guys I’ve talked to when it comes to just planning and seeing stuff, breaking down blitzes, breaking down coverages,” Hairston said. “Honestly, you’ve got to go out there and get the reps against the stuff, but everything we’ve been laying down, it looks good, man. I’m excited to just keep going out there and playing fast in this defense.”
Lobbing the praise right back, Leonhard said, “He’s high energy – all the time. He loves ball, he loves practice. Any little coaching point you give him on a one-on-one basis, he’s really into that. So to me, the energy and the passion about football, and then obviously he’s got high level athletic traits. We want to keep him healthy for a whole season. That’s the one thing that’s going to be a big challenge for him, is just continuing to grow into that NFL body and be available every week.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills show belief in Max Hairston despite drafting CB
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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