Max Hairston injury

[NewEra]

15 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

What a mess! That’s now TWO first round picks at CB that haven’t gotten on the field. I know it’s a bit of bad luck but this cat only has so many lives before times up. 

 

23 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Once again, my comment has nothing to do with Beane; no matter how desperate you are to make it so. It’s simply a statement of fact. 

Apologies if I misinterpreted.

 
“This cat”, could only have one meaning in my eyes.  I didn’t think the cat was drafting cornerbacks in the first as I don’t think that’s something that “has lives”…. but apparently I’m wrong. 

[Allen2Moulds]

I have high hopes for Mad Max. I think it's ok to be critical of Beane, with the understanding that expectations are sky high.  We're trying to win a SB.  He's certainly done a lot of things really well, but his also missed on a few.  Even the best GM's have some swings and misses.  I still believe that Beane's failures are directly tied to drafting for need, rather than BPA.  No one here can convince me otherwise.  That being said, I'm hopeful that his second go round goes much better than his 1st, when it comes to (G,CB, DL).  

 

1st time around it was:

Cody Ford (2nd) Bust

Elam (1st) Bust.

Boogie (2nd).  Major bust

 

 

2nd time around

O'Cyrus (2nd round) good pick

Max Max (1st round) TBD, but already better than Elam at this point, although very limited time.

TJ Sanders (TBD) but early signs are encouraging.  Strong preseason/camp.  

 

 

I did not put Benford or Rosseau here, as I am only comparing similar picks when it comes to draft round/position. 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

17 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

What a mess! That’s now TWO first round picks at CB that haven’t gotten on the field. I know it’s a bit of bad luck but this cat only has so many lives before times up. 

I mean that is true with Elam, basically he was a bust.  But I think you have your jump to conclusions mat out regarding Hairston.   Elam played in game one as a rookie.  So Hairston sprained his knee...I dont get how you evaluate those two as the same thing at this point in time.

[Success]

I'm not even sure why Beane's "misses" are part of this discussion.  Do people think he should be able to see that a guy he picked in the 1st is going to get hurt?

 

 

[syhuang]

 

[SoCal Deek]

2 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

I mean that is true with Elam, basically he was a bust.  But I think you have your jump to conclusions mat out regarding Hairston.   Elam played in game one as a rookie.  So Hairston sprained his knee...I dont get how you evaluate those two as the same thing at this point in time.

Not my point. This is NOT a damnation of the front office but simply a statement of fact. You only get so many chances at these critical roster positions (and nobody is going to tell me that CB isn’t a critical position). Is it Max’s fault he got hurt? Absolutely not! But you’ve gotta believe the Coaching Staff built their roster on the assumption that he’d be starting on Day One. So much so that they released Elam in the offseason. Now they’re left starting the season with no Max, no Elam, and no Rasul Douglas. As I said…..what a mess! Let’s pray Max heals quickly. 

[3rdand12]

21 hours ago, MikePJ76 said:

Week one presents a real challenge though because Baltimore likes to play big with two tight ends and it will be really tough for Buffalo to play nickel as a base and have Johnson out there.  
 

I think the jets and pats are going to play big and just run the ball at Buffalo also.  These are going to be big challenges for Buffalo.  Hopefully they have a good plan for this.

No worries

 McBeane went all in on 1 techs in the draft , just like I asked him too .......

 Bills better tweak the scheme with the front seven , considering the Secondary they are fielding. Including now desperationsville J Poyer

20 hours ago, appoo said:

I'd like to remind folks that the Bills almost went to the SB with Levi Wallace at CB

Key word being ?

yes you guessed it , almost

 But thanks for perspective

 We aren't totally scrwd

[3rdand12]

20 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Max is behind and McDermott doesnt seem to let rookies who missed camp time play

 Think along with me here Sooner

 Post Season glory including Max as a key player. He could be outstanding and one of McBeanes better picks for need and BPA+

 Gobills

[SoCal Deek]

20 hours ago, appoo said:

I'd like to remind folks that the Bills almost went to the SB with Levi Wallace at CB

When I first read this I thought to myself…”No way! Levi Wallace wasn’t on those Super Bowl teams in the early ‘90s!” But now with Poyer coming back I’m even more confused on what decade this is. 😂

[3rdand12]

8 hours ago, Augie said:

 

It occurs to me at times that maybe the Bills FO knows more than the fans, sometimes. Is that possible? 

NOPE

We fans would have won the SB multiple times over .

 There. I said it.

[Augie]

1 minute ago, 3rdand12 said:

NOPE

We fans would have won the SB multiple times over .

 There. I said it.

 

Well, thank you for clearing that up! I stand corrected, sir, and apologize for any angst created by my preposterous mental gaffe. 

[3rdand12]

6 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Well, thank you for clearing that up! I stand corrected, sir, and apologize for any angst created by my preposterous mental gaffe. 

No worries my Friend Augie.

 It's a common opinion , and might well apply to most all NFL Fans.

We are Bills Fans

And we know things.

 

I still Hairston as a smart pick at the right time

Can only imagine what his ceiling will be ! 😇

[Thrivefourfive]

Why wouldn’t teams go CB/CB in the draft.. first and second rounds. If you have one ONLY, Benford, why not? Best case is they both start in nickel. The best of the duo plays outside corner, other guy nickel with TJ7. The competition pushes them to their max potential. Win-win-win. Worst case should be that you’ve got your CB2 no doubt and the other guy is Elam. 
 

Edited August 28 by Thrivefourfive

[Playoffs?]

29 minutes ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Why wouldn’t teams go CB/CB in the draft.. first and second rounds. If you have one ONLY, Benford, why not? Best case is they both start in nickel. The best of the duo plays outside corner, other guy nickel with TJ7. The competition pushes them to their max potential. Win-win-win. Worst case should be that you’ve got your CB2 no doubt and the other guy is Elam. 
 

The Eagles did this last year, and I’d say it worked out very well for them

[BarleyNY]

19 hours ago, Success said:

I'm not even sure why Beane's "misses" are part of this discussion.  Do people think he should be able to see that a guy he picked in the 1st is going to get hurt?

 

 

 

Couple excerpts from his draft profile:

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/maxwell-hairston/32004841-4974-0557-7544-a7fed2221d85

 

- Hairston has the athleticism and on-ball talent to become a starter, but he needs to prove he can hold up to the rigors and physicality of the NFL game.

- Massive liability in run support.

- Below-average open-field tackler after the catch.

 

Let me preface this by saying that sometimes the risk is worth the reward. Hairston has real upside as a coverage CB. But the risk in drafting him that highly was his size, stature and lack of physicality. 

 

But his injury was non-contact and that can happen to any player so I do not want to read too much into it. Still, this is not a good start for a prospect whose main question was his ability to hold up physically in the NFL. 

[Billl]

21 hours ago, Success said:

I'm not even sure why Beane's "misses" are part of this discussion.  Do people think he should be able to see that a guy he picked in the 1st is going to get hurt?

 

 

For the most part, judging GMs by their misses is a poor method of evaluation.  They should be judged by their hits.  Beane missed on Elam but hit on Benford.  If it had been the other way around, nobody would even care.

[Success]

8 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

 

Couple excerpts from his draft profile:

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/maxwell-hairston/32004841-4974-0557-7544-a7fed2221d85

 

- Hairston has the athleticism and on-ball talent to become a starter, but he needs to prove he can hold up to the rigors and physicality of the NFL game.

- Massive liability in run support.

- Below-average open-field tackler after the catch.

 

Let me preface this by saying that sometimes the risk is worth the reward. Hairston has real upside as a coverage CB. But the risk in drafting him that highly was his size, stature and lack of physicality. 

 

But his injury was non-contact and that can happen to any player so I do not want to read too much into it. Still, this is not a good start for a prospect whose main question was his ability to hold up physically in the NFL. 

 

It's true that injury concerns absolutely need to be part of the consideration.  But, sometimes that doesn't work out, like when we chose Troupe over Gronk.

 

It's a tough one.  But I get the point you're making here.

 

[BarleyNY]

24 minutes ago, Success said:

 

It's true that injury concerns absolutely need to be part of the consideration.  But, sometimes that doesn't work out, like when we chose Troupe over Gronk.

 

It's a tough one.  But I get the point you're making here.

 

 

I actually didn’t mind Beane swinging for the fences a bit on this pick. He took a player at the end of the first round that legitimately could be special. Or that player may not be physically able to make it in the NFL. I’d rather that than another high floor, low ceiling player. 

[NewEra]

On 8/27/2025 at 11:25 PM, Thrivefourfive said:

Why wouldn’t teams go CB/CB in the draft.. first and second rounds. If you have one ONLY, Benford, why not? Best case is they both start in nickel. The best of the duo plays outside corner, other guy nickel with TJ7. The competition pushes them to their max potential. Win-win-win. Worst case should be that you’ve got your CB2 no doubt and the other guy is Elam. 
 

Because they have other needs and had aspirations of fixing the DL?

 

they drafted strong later on.  Just like the year they drafted Elam and Benford.  One early.  One late.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

17 hours ago, Success said:

 

It's true that injury concerns absolutely need to be part of the consideration.  But, sometimes that doesn't work out, like when we chose Troupe over Gronk.

 

It's a tough one.  But I get the point you're making here.

 

 

That ones always funny, as troups career was essentially de-railed by back injuries.  And Gronk had fallen in the draft due to back issues.