The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will look to bolster their cornerback department in this year’s draft and today we preview one potential target in UCF’s Mike Hughes.

Tampa Bay Buccaneer general manager Jason Licht has a specter looming over his head this off-season: the cornerback position. Brent Grimes and Vernon Hargreaves are both locked in as starters this season, but the future beyond this coming season is very much a question mark, due to the age of Grimes and the uncertain abilities of Hargreaves.

Despite the corner position not being as urgently dire as, say, guard or running back, it’s still something that Jason Licht needs to clean up in this months’ draft. I expect UCF’s Mike Hughes to be one player that Licht hones in on, thanks to his versatility and untapped potential, among other reasons. Let’s take a closer look at the type of player Hughes is, and what makes him a potential target for the Bucs.

Mike Hughes’ Collegiate Career

The story of Mike Hughes is one of redemption. Hughes started his college career in 2015 at the University of North Carolina. He played sparingly in eleven games, registering just ten tackles and zero interceptions. After a violent fraternity fight Hughes was slapped with a misdemeanor count of assault and suspended indefinitely from the team.

In August of 2016 Hughes revived his college career and signed on with the University of Central Florida. Forced to forgo his sophomore season, Hughes broke out in 2017 and played a key role in UCF’s undefeated season. Hughes had four interceptions, 37 tackles, eleven passes defensed, and an interception returned for a touchdown.

On top of Hughes’ contributions as a stellar boundary cornerback, he was also a major factor on special teams. Last season he recorded two kick returns for touchdowns and one punt return for a touchdown, and racked up a combined total of 868 punt and kick return yards. One of those kick returns came in the extreme clutch against the USF Bulls – with the game tied at 42 a piece and 1:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, Hughes dashed 95 yards down the field to put the Knights ahead.

At the NFL combine in March, Hughes ran a solid 4.5 forty yard dash, a 4.3 twenty yard shuffle, and benched-pressed twenty times (the third most reps at his position). His testing overall seemed to solidify a late first/early second round draft prognosis. Needless to say, Hughes has come a very long way in a very short amount of time spent on the field.

Pros

Hughes is extremely physical for a player of his stature (5’10, 189 lbs.). He gets into receivers’ pockets right from the snap and uses his strength to reroute them and disrupt the flow of the play. With the ball in the air Hughes has receiver-like skills, much like current Buc Brent Grimes. Thanks to that skill-set and his athletic profile Hughes seems like a safe bet to be a play-maker in the NFL. He showed very few lapses in coverage and isn’t afraid to tackle and do the dirty work.

As a special teams player Hughes is truly unique. Much like Tennessee’s Adoree Jackson last season, Hughes ability to return punts and kicks will factor heavily in his favor for NFL teams.

In addition to his prowess in coverage – Mike Hughes was extremely valuable as a returner for UCF pic.twitter.com/b70u33dxer — PFF Draft (@PFF_College) April 13, 2018

Cons

Experience. It’s one thing you can’t teach or coach, and it’s working against Mike Hughes, unfortunately. Hughes only has two years of playing experience at the college level, and in only one of those years did he see significant playing time. Teams have seen what Hughes is capable of, but they don’t yet know whether he can sustain that level of play.

While Hughes does player taller than his 5’10 height he is still vulnerable to bigger receivers that get over top of him. It’s a con that Hughes has dealt with his entire playing career, but clearly not something he can’t overcome, especially for a player as physical and aggressive as he is. Though Hughes is a willing tackler, he’s not necessarily a good or consistent tackler, so that will likely be mission #1 for whichever defensive back coach he ends up with in the league.

The dreaded “character concerns” (a tag that I despise, for what it’s worth) will unfortunately be attached to Hughes due to his banishment from the University of North Carolina. Draft insider Matt Miller also referenced some concerns off of the field for Hughes.

Why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Need Mike Hughes

First and foremost, Hughes has the physical mindset that the Buccaneers so desperately need to apply to their cornerback group. For too long we’ve seen Tampa Bay corners play soft coverage to stave off big plays over top of them, and for too long we’ve seen the result – absurdly high completion percentages for quarterbacks and horrific third down defense. Mike Hughes could begin to change that soft mindset, as one of his premier traits is a bulldog mentality.

That’s without mentioning how much the Buccaneers could use Hughes’ special teams ability. For as long as the Bucs have been playing soft coverage, it’s been even longer since they’ve had a strong kick and punt return unit. Like, pretty much their entire existence aside from one tiny, magical window of time with the legendary Michael Spurlock. As we went over earlier, Hughes had three special teams touchdowns last season between two kick returns and one punt return. I suspect that this ability will have him among Jason Licht’s top five cornerbacks in this class, and perhaps higher depending on what they judge his ceiling is in coverage.

Will it happen?

Landing Mike Hughes is going to be tricky for the Buccaneers. His late first/early second round grade means he isn’t an option at seven and likely not even in the event of a trade-back. The team would need to hope that he dropped to the second round which is possible but unlikely.

If Hughes is indeed available I expect he’ll be on a very short list of considerations for the Bucs. They need help at both cornerback and special teams returner and Hughes has huge upside at both.