Vikings 1st-Rounder from 6 Years Ago Rekindles Career
Remember Mike Hughes? He’s good now — at least through four games of the 2024 regular season.
Vikings 1st-Rounder from 6 Years Ago Rekindles Career
Now a member of the Atlanta Falcons’ defense, Hughes is doing his part en route to Atlanta’s 2-2 start, producing a noteworthy 78.4 Pro Football Focus grade — also known as the NFL’s ninth-best among all cornerbacks.
That’s right. PFF claims Hughes has morphed into a Top 10 corner.
Hughes has played 214 defensive snaps through four games — about 75% of the time — so the PFF mark isn’t a garbage time statistic or reservist duty. He’s a legitimate starter in Atlanta who has a chance to totally rejuvenate his career if the early-season success continues.
Since leaving the Vikings via trade in 2021, Hughes has a thick resume, spending time with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, and the Falcons. He actually played quite well in 2021 with the Chiefs, especially in the regular season, but encountered a regrettable playoff gaffe that soured his reputation in Kansas City.
The Chiefs did not welcome Hughes back during 2022 free agency, prompting the former 1st-Rounder to become a Lion for a one-year pit stop and then a Falcon 19 months ago. It seems Atlanta might’ve served as a geographical cure.
Here’s Hughes’ Pro Football Focus resume to date:
- 2018 = 65.3
- 2019 = 58.7
- 2020 = 54.4
- 2021 = 79.6
- 2022 = 59.9
- 2023 = 51.8
- 2024 = 78.4
Former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman traded Hughes before the 2021 regular season started solely because the Central Florida alumnus could not stay healthy. While Hughes performed aptly when on the field (for the most part), he missed exactly half of all Vikings games from 2018 to 2020. In return for Hughes, the Vikings swung a 6th-Round draft pick that current boss Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent.
The ex-Viking generated oodles of excitement among Vikings fans in his first career game when he ripped off an interception from then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo and scampered for a pick-six. And that was Hughes’ big Vikings moment.
The Falcons’ defense ranks 23rd in the NFL per EPA/Play at the moment, so it has a long way to go before achieving prosperity. According to sportsbooks, Atlanta has an approximately 56% chance of reaching the postseason, led by another former Vikings quarterback, Kirk Cousins.
Barring injury, Hughes and Cousins will return to U.S. Bank Stadium for a date with the Vikings on December 8th.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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