Oregon RB Makhi Hughes Preseason Prospect Review

• NAME: Makhi Hughes
• YEAR: Junior
• TEAM: Oregon
• POSITION: RB
• HEIGHT: 5’11”
• WEIGHT: 210

GAMES PLAYED: 28

INJURIES: Redshirted his freshman season due to an undisclosed knee injury

PREVIOUS SCHOOL: Tulane

2024 STATS: 265 carries, 1401 rushing yards, 15 rushing touchdowns, 19 receptions, 176 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns

PHYSICAL TRAITS:

Makhi has solid physical traits, where his running style is built on him running through defenders and fighting for yards after contact. He showcases his ability with contact through his willingness in the pass block game.

RUN GAME STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

Makhi’s strengths include fighting through contact and picking up yards after it. He shows good vision by finding cutback lanes and letting blocks develop. His speed is an underrated trait of his game, with several runs over 30 yards. Another key strength is ball security—he hasn’t fumbled yet in his college career.

Weaknesses in Makhi’s game are he does not have much of a plan in the open field other than running over defenders. He showcases great patience but does have a bad habit of being too impatient and bouncing his runs outside.

PASS GAME STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

Makhi showcases great ability in the pass block game with him getting more comfortable taking off defenders. He also showcases how he can become a solid check down weapon for the QB, as he has 30 career receptions so far.

While above I highlighted some of his strengths in the pass game, Makhi is still a work in progress in both the pass block and receiving game. Most of his routes are either check downs or swing routes so he needs to work on diversifying his route tree. His technique in the pass block game is also a work in progress as he struggles with hand placement and knowing how to pick up blitzing defenders.

BOTTOM LINE

Makhi Hughes is a physical running back with the potential to be among the top prospects in next year’s draft class. He combines strong ball security with impressive long-speed, but he’s still developing as a pass blocker and receiver. Now transferring to Oregon, Hughes has a chance to grow in both areas under offensive coordinator Will Stein. With Oregon producing drafted running backs in each of the past two years (Bucky Irving and Jordan James), Hughes could follow that trend if he matches his American Conference production in the Big Ten.