NFL Draft Profile: Maxwell Hairston

The 2025 NFL Draft is just over a week away. Professional football organizations are hosting final visits and making the final adjustments to their big board rankings. Personnel departments are focusing on the last weekend in April for the three-day mega-event in Green Bay that will include 257 picks over seven rounds.

For the Kentucky football program, the Wildcats are scheduled to have a busy Day 2 and Day 3 but might see one player sneak into the end of the first round. There are a handful of players that could become draft selections. KSR is here to get you ready after being there every step of the way during the pre-draft process.

Before our yearly draft guide publishes on draft week at KSR+, profiles on every expected Kentucky draft pick will hit the world wide web in preparation for the biggest non-game event on the sports calendar.

First up is a former three-star recruit who developed into an All-SEC performer at Kentucky.

Player: Maxwell Hairston

• Height: 5115
• Weight: 183
• Age: 21.7
• Arm: 31 1/2″
• Hand: 8 3/4″
• 40-Yard Dash: 4.28
• 10-Yard Split: 1.53
• Short Shuttle: DNP
• Vertical: 39 1/2″
• Broad Jump: 10’09”
• Bench: DNP

Per Relative Athletic Score, Maxwell Hairston posted elite speed scores and explosive testing. The Kentucky cornerback did not participate in agility testing at the combine or pro day. Hairston is under six-foot and does not have much weight, but good arm length and a solid wingspan (76 5/8″) give this prospect good numbers across the board.

Hairston is a fast and explosive cornerback with length. Everyone is looking for those traits at this position.

Production

• 2021 (Freshman): Redshirt
• 2022 (Redshirt Freshman): 12 games, 24 snaps, 53.2 PFF grade, 2 tackles
• 2023 (Redshirt Sophomore): 13 games, 13 starts, 747 snaps, 81.8 PFF grade, 68 tackles (8.2% missed tackle rate), 2 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions, 6 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 4 penalties
• 2024 (Redshirt Junior): 7 games, 7 starts, 297 snaps, 67.0 PFF grade, 19 tackles (27.3% missed tackle rate), 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, 4 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, 2 penalties
• Career: 32 games, 20 starts, 1,068 snaps, 89 tackles (12.5% missed tackle rate), 2.5 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions, 10 pass breakups, 3 forced fumbles, 6 penalties

Background

Maxwell Hairston was a three-star recruit out of West Bloomfield (Mich.) High in the class of 2021 who picked Kentucky over Minnesota, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Rutgers, and Washington State. Former defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale ran point on this recruitment. Hairston led his team to a state title as a senior while recording 16 pass breakups, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, and 500 receiving yards on offense.

Hairston showed off high-end ball skills on his high school tape and that translated to college football.

The cornerback did not receive any playing time as a true freshman in 2021 and played just sparingly as a redshirt freshman in 2022. Most notably, Hairston replaced an injured Carrington Valentine in crunch time and gave up a long vertical completion on fourth down in Kentucky’s shocking home loss to Vanderbilt. But things would turn around quickly for the cornerback.

Hairston entered the 2023 season as a starter at cornerback opposite of third-round pick Andru Phillips even though Kentucky added multiple transfers in the offseason. It did not take long for the teams to target Hairston heavily in the passing game and that ultimately ended up being a mistake.

Not one, but TWO pick-6️⃣s for Maxwell Hairston 😤

(📍 @NavyFederal) pic.twitter.com/UX3VKwIsf0

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 23, 2023

Hairston recorded five interceptions, six pass breakups, and accumulated 68 tackles as teams continually looked to attack the inexperienced cornerback. The third-year player more than held his own and earned second-team All-SEC honors. That create a ton of buzz for the cornerback in 2024.

The cornerback was a preseason All-SEC selection but missed five games due to injury. All of those absences occurred in SEC play. Hairston’s missed tackle rate skyrocketed in 2024 but offenses made a concerted effort not to attack the cornerback in coverage showing some major respect to the playmaker. Hairston again earned second-team All-SEC honors before entering the 2025 NFL Draft.

Scouting Report

Maxwell Hairston was a two-year starter for Kentucky playing in a defensive scheme that asked cornerbacks to hold up in man coverage and play with good instincts in zone. Hariston has a ton of reps banked in Cover 3 but also has some impressive reps as a man coverage cornerback.

Hairston’s top-end speed shows up on tape and his ball skills are evident. The cornerback brings some scheme versatility to the table and good length despite being sub-190 pounds. This is a sticky coverage cornerback who has shown feel and awareness to succeed in zone coverage. Also does a good job of recovering when the ball is in the air. If Hairston tackles like he did in 2022, this is a cornerback with the full package. Durability could be a concern after getting injured in the Citrus Bowl in 2023 and missing nearly half the season in 2024.

The Kentucky cornerback has the game to be a potential day one starter in the NFL at outside cornerback.

Draft Window

• Dane Brugler (The Athletic): No. 35 overall
• Daniel Jeremiah (NFL Media): No. 35 overall
• Big Board (PFF): No. 43 overall
• The Athletic Consensus Big Board: No. 35 overall
• Lance Zierlein (NFL Media): 1st round

Draft analysts across the industry have Maxwell Hairston ranked somewhere between 30-45. Most have the cornerback outside of first-round range but cornerback is a priority position. In a down class, Hairston looks like CB3 behind Will Johnson (Michigan) and Jahdae Barron (Texas) if you consider Travis Hunter (Colorado) a wide receiver. When we get into the 20s, Hairston could be the top cornerback available.

The Greater Detroit native has a great chance to be come the first Kentucky cornerback selected in the first round. The worst case scenario is that Hairston is one of the top picks in the second round. An NFL franchise is going to use a priority pick on Hairston and expect him to play a big role on their defense immediately.