Bills pick Maxwell Hairston, with fastest 40-yard dash in NFL Draft

Billy Heyen

Bills pick Maxwell Hairston, with fastest 40-yard dash in NFL Draft image

The Buffalo Bills needed a cornerback.

They just got the fastest one in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Bills used the No. 30 overall pick on Thursday night to take Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston.

"Buffalo is getting the ultimate competitor, the ultimate teammate," an excited Hairston said on ESPN.

Hairston ran the fastest 40 at the entire 2025 NFL Combine.

He came across the line in 4.28 seconds, one of the fastest in league history.

Hairston was a three-star recruit out of the state of Michigan who won a high school state championship before leaving to play at Kentucky.

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In 2023, Hairston had five interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. Injuries limited him to a single pick in 2024.

Hairston's athleticism isn't just the 40. He also had a 39.5-inch vertical jump and went 10 feet, 9 inches in the broad jump at the combine.

There's a Bills connection here, too.

Former Buffalo special teams ace and long-time NFL running back Taiwan Jones is Hairston's cousin.

Hairston is also cousins with former NBA player Lyndsey Hairston.

The Bills got rid of Kaiir Elam this offseason in a trade to the Cowboys, and they haven't signed Rasul Douglas back.

This was a huge need, and they filled it with as splashy a cornerback pick as they could have with the uber-athletic Hairston.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle