The Buffalo Bills allowed the ninth-most passing yards in the NFL this past season, so the team went into the 2025 NFL Draft looking to upgrade their secondary.
And that is exactly what they did.
In a recent article by PFF, they list some key players on every team's starting lineup. For the reigning AFC East champions, they label former Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston a "rookie to watch".
"The Bills also addressed their defensive issues by drafting Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston in the first round. He has outstanding speed for the position, running a 4.28-second 40-yard dash. However, Hairston missed five games this past season due to a shoulder injury and mustered only a 66.1 PFF coverage grade when he was on the field. The Bills need him to perform and help fix a rough secondary from last year."
Hairston played in just seven games this past season with the Wildcats as a result of that shoulder injury, but he did enough in his first two seasons in college to convince the Bills to take him in the first round.
The 21-year-old defensive back finished his sophomore season with a solid 68 total tackles, but it was his ball-hawk skills that really impressed. He racked up five interceptions, two of which he was able to take back to the house.
The Bills lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship this past season, so they are going into 2025 hoping to redeem themselves. Hairston and the rest of the team's defense will look to help the team do just that.