The Minnesota Vikings waited out the evening until they were on the clock at the 30th overall selection in the first round of tonight's NFL Draft and they hurried to the board and took cornerback Mike Hughes out of the University of Central Florida.
While the deep dives will continue all week long, here are 5 things that you need to know about Mike Hughes right off the bat.
1. He was a shutdown deep defender in college
Most quarterbacks avoided throwing at Hughes in college, but when they did test him deep he won that battle almost every time. According to PFF on 14 deep targets in 2017 opposing quarterbacks completed only 1 pass for 20 yards on Hughes. He allowed zero touchdowns on those passes and picked it off three times. That was good for an FBS best 0.0 passer rating on those plays.
2. He returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns in 2017
Part of the upside on Hughes is also his kick and punt return ability. As an explosive kick and punt returner, Hughes found the end zone three times but also got his team in good field position more often than not averaging 31.9 yards per return on kicks.
3. He's set to be the Vikings starting kick returner already in week 1
Joining Paul Allen on KFAN after the pick was made, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said that Hughes will be the punt returner on day one and will push Marcus Sherels for the starting punt return job in training camp.