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32 DAYS TO 2018 KICKOFF: Justin Hughes

In which BracketCat counts down the 32nd day until the 2018 kickoff with a profile of linebacker Justin Hughes.

By BracketCat
#32 Justin Hughes
The only photos I could find of Justin Hughes (32) in our database are one that actually is of Justin Silmon (who, granted, wears the same number and has the same first name) and this one that has Hughes way in the background on a play he wasn’t much involved in. If 2018 is the breakout season I expect for Hughes, this won’t be a problem at all next summer.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

#32 Justin Hughes

Redshirt Junior | 6-1 | 229 lbs. | Tucker, Georgia
Justin Hughes
Justin Hughes
Courtesy Kansas State Athletics
  • Position: Linebacker
  • Previous College: None
  • Projection: Second-String
  • Status: On Scholarship

Justin Lorenz Hughes (b. Jan. 3, 1996) is an athletic player who took a step forward as a sophomore and now is one of many linebackers who will compete for a starting job in 2018.

He was the first, but not last, prospect that newly promoted offensive coordinator Andre Coleman pulled out of the Deep South to come to K-State.

Hughes originally enrolled at Kansas State in 2014 as a grayshirt, redshirted in 2015 and did not see any game action in 2016. He started for the White team in the 2016 spring game and collected one tackle, then played for the Purple team in the 2018 spring game.

Hughes finally saw action in six games in 2017 as both a reserve linebacker and on special teams. He recorded four tackles, including a career-high three stops against Central Arkansas, and also made a tackle against UCLA in the Cactus Bowl.

Hughes played under head coach Bryan Lamar for Tucker High School, where he helped the Tigers to earn a 14-1 record and a trip to the state championship game.

He was named a first-team all-state honoree in 2013 by the Georgia Sportswriters, while he was an All-DeKalb County pick by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and rated as the nation’s 70th-best outside linebacker by ESPN.

Hughes was selected to play in the Florida-Georgia All-Star Game after totaling more than 180 tackles over his junior and senior seasons. He was high school teammates of fellow defenders Duke Shelley and Elijah Sullivan.