Maxwell Hairston is a cornerback and NFL hopeful. He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats. He’s projected to be a first round pick as his draft stocks keep rising. Hairston had offers from Purdue, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Minnesota and Washington State but he ultimately chose Kentucky.
How Maxwell Hairston Could Make Kentucky Cornerback History in This Year’s NFL Draft
Projected to be a first round pick, Hairston could be the first ever cornerback from Kentucky to be selected in the first round. That is going to be an amazing feat for the 21 year old Michigan native. He’s already the first cornerback out of his highschool to go P5. He attended West Bloomfield high School in Michigan.
Source: Kentucky CB Maxwell Hairston has also accepted his invitation to the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.
Hairston is a projected 1st round pick. https://t.co/fENsBOHadd
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) April 16, 2025
At the 2025 NFL combine, Hairston ran the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds, clocking the fastest time at this year’s combine. In his college career, he played in 32 games and started 20, totalling 89 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack, six interceptions and three forced fumbles
He tied the school record, also owned by Dallas Owens (1974-77), for most career interceptions returned for touchdowns with three.
Hairston already has seven visits with top 30 NFL teams ahead of the draft. He’s been projected by multiple outlets to be selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the 26th pick.
“Speed and ball skills. Hairston ran the combine’s fastest 40-yard dash (4.28 seconds) and had 6 interceptions and 13 pass breakups over his final two seasons,” ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper said. “He’d absolutely boost the Rams’ cornerback corps.”
Hairston’s College Career
Hairston was rated a three-star prospect out of high school by 247Sports. He was also ranked the No. 19 prospect in Michigan and No. 65 cornerback nationally by the same outlet. He played in 12 games and totaled two tackles as a redshirt freshman.
In his sophomore year, he led the SEC in interceptions (5), interception returns (26.20), interception return yards (131), and interception return TDs (2). His 131 interception return yards were the most since Greg Long had 176 return yards in 1981 (the school record is 197 by Dave Hunter in 1968). He was named second-team all-SEC, Honorable Mention all-American, and SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.
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In his junior season, he was named second-team All-SEC after he totaled 19 tackles, a TFL, two forced fumbles, a sack, one interception, and four pass breakups in seven games.
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