Bills Cornerbacks Dubbed Top 10 Positional Battle to Watch and It's Good News for One Rookie

There will be many positional battles to watch when the Buffalo Bills take the field for minicamp from June 9 to 11 in Orchard Park.

One that has caught the eye of the national media is the expected competition between Maxwell Hairston and Davison Igbinosun for the role as the team’s second cornerback opposite Christian Benford. In an article published by ESPN, NFL analyst Ben Solak cited the upcoming positional battle as one of the 10 most intriguing this offseason.

“I did not have ‘early drafted cornerback’ on my bingo card for the Bills,” wrote Solak. “I thought there was still enough hope for Hairston, a first-round pick just one season ago, that his starting spot would go unchallenged. But Buffalo took Igbinosun in the second round as insurance against Hairston’s injury history and as a challenger for his reps.”

In fact, the Bills traded up in the second round to acquire Igbinosun and Buffalo’s general manager/president of football operations Brandon Beane later declared cornerback as the team’s most significant need entering the draft. Both are signs that Hairston’s job is anything but safe.

With that said, Solak remains confident that Buffalo’s 2025 first-round pick can lock down a starting role before the team takes the field in Week 1 against the Houston Texans.

“Hairston never made much sense to me as a fit for Sean McDermott’s defense and works better with new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard,” added Solak. “So, Hairston certainly has the inside track for this job if he can stay healthy and quickly learn the new defense.”

Reviewing Hairston’s first professional season

Buffalo Bills cornerback Maxwell Hairston (31) waits for the snap against the Miami Dolphins during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. | Jeff Romance-Imagn Images

While Igbinosun has yet to prove himself at the professional level, Hairston has already completed his first year in the league, during which he offered mixed results. According to Next Gen Stats, Hairston was targeted 24 times in coverage a season ago and allowed 15 receptions for 203 yards and three touchdowns. He also recorded a couple of interceptions while allowing opposing passers to record a 94.3 passer rating when throwing his way.

Hairston displayed a few flashes of brilliance during his rookie year, but there were concerns regarding a couple of injuries he sustained throughout the course of the year, including a knee ailment that kept him sidelined for the Bills’ first six games of the year and an ankle injury that prevented him from competing during the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see how the fight for a starting spot between Hairston and Igbinosun plays out over the next couple of months. But with many expecting this to be an all-out competition, that's good news for Igbinosun to start his career.

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