#47

Drew Hughes

Senior defensive tackle for Ball State. 2025: 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 27 tackles.

DT · Ball State · Sr. · #47

6′2″ · 288 lb · Willow Springs, IL

CFB Index 58 · #129 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Ball State for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Sacks: 80th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

2 TFL · 27 tackles · 1 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 3 tackles, at Auburn

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive tackle for Ball State. 2025: 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 27 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Ball State in 2021.

His career, year by year

Drew Hughes

DT · Ball State · Sr · #47

Wins his gap play after play. Drew Hughes has been at Ball State through two head coaches in three seasons. One game to point at: 5 tackles, 0.5 sacks against New Hampshire — Week 3, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2023Ball State4-8HC: Mike Neu · Run-heavy

2024Ball State3-9HC: Mike Neu · Balanced

2025Ball State4-8HC: Mike Uremovich · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

58Quality starter #129 of 330?

Low confidenceBreakout6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Tackles for loss#1424 / 2975 · 47th pct

2.0

Tackles#1543 / 2975 · 47th pct

Solo tackles#1735 / 2975 · 40th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home4g	3.2	0.2	0.2	0.0
Road6g	2.3	0.2	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.4	0.3	0.3	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	2.0	0.1	0.1	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Uremovich

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

58 · #129 of 330 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #129 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-MAC

Based on 2025: #8 of 16 Mid-American DTs

How the All-MAC estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Ball State	27	12	2.0	2.0	--	--	--
2024	Ball State	22	6	0.5	0.0	1	--	--
2023	Ball State	9	2	1.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		58	20	4.0	2.0	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 34–29

vs New Hampshire

5 TOT · 1 SOLO · 0 SACKS

Edged out New Hampshire at home in a shootout.

With Q. Ashley — 154 rush yds (12 car) · 2 TD · K. Kelly — 105 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 77.4 · 101 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 2	L 3-42@ Auburn	3	2	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 3	W 34-29vs New Hampshire	5	1	0.5	0.5	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 4	L 25-31@ UConn	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 20-14vs Ohio	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 0-42@ Western Michigan	4	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	W 42-28vs Akron	3	1	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 9	L 7-21@ Northern Illinois	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 9-24vs Eastern Michigan	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 9-38@ Toledo	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 24-45@ Miami (OH)	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		27	12	2.0	2.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

27Tackles

12Solo

2TFL

2Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

27 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2 TFL.

Week 21 sack
Week 30.5 sacks
Week 80.5 sacks

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Ball State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · Ball State

Returning around him

Transfer portal: +6 net (24 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Ball State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #113 · 2026 recruiting class #113

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Allen Henry’s 2023 season.

Allen Henry

88%match

Coastal Carolina · 2023

Devin Danielson

Pittsburgh · 2023

87%

Esean Carter

Toledo · 2025

All-MAC

86%

Dierre Kelly

Bowling Green · 2022

85%

Matches Allen on

Weight

TFL rate

Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Ifeanyi Maijeh's junior season at Rutgers (2022).

Ifeanyi Maijeh

86%match

Rutgers · 2022

Darrion Dalton

Washington State · 2025

86%

Jalen Satchell

Old Dominion · 2023

85%

Esean Carter

Toledo · 2025

All-MAC

84%

Carsen Stocklinski

Hawai'i · 2025

84%

Matches Ifeanyi on

Class year

Weight

TFL rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Drew Hughes

Cheick Kaba

Charlotte · 2025

92%

Melvin Swindle

Eastern Michigan · 2024

89%

Shambre Jackson

Massachusetts · 2025

87%

Keenan Landry

Kent State · 2024

86%

Anthony Blume

Georgia State · 2024

85%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

2021

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Drew Hughes