Parker
Hughes.
Parker
Hughes.
Middle Tennessee· 6'1"· 228 lb· 4.43s 40
R7 · #240 · Jacksonville Jaguars"A converted-safety coverage linebacker in the Nick Niemann mold: the speed, hip fluidity and four phases of kick-coverage work are the job, and the undersized frame plus vanished pass rush mean the defensive snaps only arrive in dime packages."Pre-draft read
Hughes aligns at depth, reading guards to diagnose plays and flow to the ball, often beating pulling guards to the alley. He operates as a wrap-and-drive tackler, securing ball carriers and allowing pursuit to finish, evident in his even split between solo and assisted tackles. In coverage, he is comfortable as an off-ball linebacker, demonstrating the ability to open hips and run with tight ends up the seam, matches running backs out of the backfield efficiently, and exhibits sufficient quarterback-reading skills to produce interceptions.
His pass rush wins with speed; however, he lacks a counter move when his initial rush is stopped. At the point of attack, he struggles to stack and shed blockers, getting covered up and driven off the spot by climbing linemen when he cannot avoid blocks with quickness.
Jacksonville runs a Cover-3 match scheme with a one-gap 3-4 front, and their off-ball linebackers need to be able to fit the run from depth before carrying receivers vertically, and Hughes has the range and instincts for that.
Hughes projects as a Year 1 four-phase special teamer and sub-package dime linebacker, with the ceiling to develop into a starting coverage-first WILL in a one-gap scheme.
Hughes' value diminishes significantly in run-heavy gap/duo schemes that require linebackers to consistently stack and shed interior linemen at the point of attack.
Hughes' combination of elite speed, safety background, and quick read-and-react ability makes him an ideal fit for modern coverage-centric linebacker roles, but his size and strength limitations will prevent him from being a three-down player in power run schemes.
Parker Hughes Highlights | Jacksonville Jaguars Linebacker | Middle Tennessee | 2026 NFL Draft
The full pre-draft reel: downhill run fits, seam coverage on tight ends and both 2025 interceptions.
Sam Houston State Bearkats vs. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders - Highlights | 2025 Regular Season
Conference broadcast highlights from his senior year, with No. 9 leading the tackle count in a league game.
MTSU Football Postgame Press Conference: LB Parker Hughes
Postgame availability from the team captain, useful for the leadership and processing side of the file.
Hughes projects as a dime linebacker and four-phase special teamer, offering immediate value in pass coverage and on kick units. His strong movement profile, evidenced by a 4.43 forty at 228 pounds, provides the foundation for this role, with coverage snaps likely preceding significant run-down opportunities.
He began his college career as a walk-on safety, transitioning to a hybrid role and eventually full-time off-ball linebacker. This progression included a brief transfer and return, demonstrating adaptability. He accumulated 100 tackles in his final season, earning second-team All-Conference USA honors, and proved capable of handling a significant tackle load on a defense that frequently faced high-volume offensive attacks.
Concerns centered on his undersized frame and difficulty disengaging from blocks, which limited his disruption in the run game and pass rush, particularly against stronger opponents. Despite these issues, his rare athletic traits for his position moved him from a priority free agent to a late-round draft prospect, ultimately selected at pick 240.
- 01
Plus timed athleticism
Demonstrates plus timed athleticism, including a 4.43 forty with a 1.53 ten-yard split at 228 pounds.
- 02
Strong coverage background
Possesses a strong coverage background, playing safety through 2022, translating to carrying seams and matching backs.
- 03
High-volume tackler
Produced high-volume tackling totals, with 100 tackles in 2025 (50 solo, 50 assisted) in his final season.
- 04
Fast diagnosis skills
Exhibits fast diagnosis skills, allowing him to trigger downhill and fill run gaps without false steps.
- 05
Special teams experience
Has established special teams experience, with four years of kick-coverage work as a four-phase contributor.
- 01
Limited blitz value
Offers limited blitz value, producing zero sacks in his final two seasons and only 3.5 for his college career.
- 02
Decreasing disruption metrics
Shows shrinking disruption metrics, with tackles for loss decreasing from 7.0 in 2023 to 3.0 in 2025.
- 03
Undersized frame
Possesses a maxed frame at 228 pounds with 31⅜-inch arms, undersized to consistently take on NFL offensive linemen.
- 04
Washed out by blocks
Prone to being washed out by climbing linemen when unable to evade blocks, particularly against physical offensive lines.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.43sp50
- Vertical
- 35.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 114inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.51sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.41sp50
- Bench
- 25repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Middle Tennessee | 12 | 53 | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | Middle Tennessee | 9 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Middle Tennessee | 12 | 89 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | — | 33 | 211 | 2.5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- Second-team All-Conference USA (2025)
- Team captain, Middle Tennessee (2025)
- Class 4A Mr. Football, Tennessee (2020, Elizabethton High School)
- Two-time TSSAA BlueCross Bowl state champion at Elizabethton High School
- Sixth in Conference USA in total tackles (100) and assisted tackles (50), 2025
- Tenth in Conference USA in solo tackles (50), 2025
- Seventh in Conference USA in interception return yards (68), 2025
- Ninth in Conference USA in forced fumbles (1), 2024
Not the draft slot, but the role - an every-down-capable, coverage-comfortable stack backer who wins with range and finishing rather than taking on blocks.
The ceiling and the in-house precedent: a small-school, late-round linebacker whose speed and coverage range turned him into an NFL tackle leader in this exact building.
The floor: a productive college tackle machine whose lack of pass-rush juice and functional play strength limits him to special teams and emergency defensive snaps.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Jacksonville used pick 240 on the athlete, not the resume, and in the seventh round that is the correct order of operations. Hughes ran 4.43 at 228 pounds with a 1.53 ten-yard split, a 4.41 shuttle and a 7.51 three-cone at his Middle Tennessee pro day, and those are dime-linebacker numbers on a player who spent his first two college seasons at safety. That is not a converted body type; that is a defensive back who grew into a linebacker and kept the movement skills.
The path to those numbers is the part of the file that scouts kept coming back to. He was Class 4A Mr. Football in Tennessee and won two state titles at Elizabethton, and still had to walk on at Middle Tennessee, where he played four games on kick coverage in 2021 and did not record a defensive statistic. He portaled out in April 2022, landed at Samford, got moved to outside linebacker, never played a snap and came back to Murfreesboro because it was the only place he wanted to be. Everything after that is a straight line: 11 starts and 7.0 tackles for loss in 2023, 69 tackles in nine games in 2024 despite a summer injury that cost him September, then a captaincy and exactly 100 tackles in 2025, sixth in Conference USA, on a team that finished 3-9 and allowed 30.9 points a game.
There is honest context to apply to that century mark. Middle Tennessee's 2025 defense gave up 0.210 PPA per play with a 44.1 percent success rate and 4.03 points per scoring opportunity, which is to say he had more tackle opportunities than a linebacker on a good defense ever gets. But the two numbers that survive the adjustment are the 23.6 percent stuff rate the front seven generated and the 31.4 percent success rate opponents managed on passing downs - both are Hughes numbers, because he was the player triggering the run fits and the one carrying tight ends up the seam. His two interceptions went for 68 yards, seventh in the league in return yardage.
What he is not is a thumper. Zero sacks over his last two seasons, tackles for loss down from 7.0 to 3.0, 31 3/8-inch arms and a frame that will not carry another ten pounds usefully. NFL guards will cover him up, and the team that drafted him knows it. The bet is on the third-down snaps and the four special teams phases, where a 4.43 linebacker who has covered kicks since he was a walk-on is immediately useful. Foye Oluokun is the ceiling, and the parallel is not accidental - a small-school linebacker whose speed and coverage instincts turned him from a late-round afterthought into a league tackle leader in the same building. That is a long shot. The realistic version is a rotational dime backer and core special teamer who makes a roster for six years, which is the best possible outcome for pick 240.