Every team in the NFL enters training camp with highlighted position battles that will be watched.<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Bills<\/a> are no different. Those fights can bring out the best in players and that’s what the Bills hope happens at cornerback ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Christian Benford<\/a> returns to the top of the corner depth chart in Buffalo. At the other outside spot, it will be a battle between Maxwell Hairston<\/a> and rookie Davison Igbinosun<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hairston was Buffalo’s first-round pick at the 2025 NFL Draft. Igbinosun was selected with on of the Bills’ top selections at this offseason’s draft in Round 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n ESPN’s<\/a> NFL insiders put together a list of the top 10 position battles to watch this summer. The one at cornerback in Buffalo cracked the unranked list.<\/p>\n Here’s the ESPN breakdown on Hairston vs. Igbinosun:<\/p>\n I did not have “early drafted cornerback” on my bingo card for the Bills, as 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 opposite Christian Benford.<\/p>\n Hairston never made much sense to me as a fit for Sean McDermott’s defense and works better with new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard<\/a>. So, Hairston certainly has the inside track for this job if he can stay healthy and quickly learn the new defense.<\/p>\n