Highlights & Evaluation: Louisville DL Commit Kevontay Hugan

Add another impact Class of 2026 prospect to the mix for the Louisville football program, as Kevontay Hugan has committed to the Cardinals.

Here is Louisville Cardinals On SI's full evaluation:

Prospect: Kevontay Hugan
Position: Defensive End
Measurables: 6-foot-2, 235 pounds
School: Sarasota (Fla.) Booker
Top Offers: Georgia Tech, Miami, Missouri, Penn State, USC
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.8900 (411th)

Kevontay Hugan's Junior Year Highlights: HERE (Hudl)

Frame: Hugan has a good amount of muscle tone on his frame already, particularly in his core and arms. Depending on his exact role at the college level, he'll likely have to add a significant amount of weight, especially if it's an interior role. That being said, he does have the room to add the weight/muscle needed. Wingspan is solid, and Hugan has decently broad shoulders.

Athleticism: Hugan possesses a fantastic first step with elite acceleration, and has good open field speed on top of it. Both his north/south and lateral footwork is above average, and he has vastly underrated play strength.

Instincts: As you can imagine given his set of athletic intangibles, Hugan is primarily a speed rusher, and he is incredibly good at what he does. He has insane burst off the line of scrimmage regardless of alignment. On the interior, he can shoot gaps so fast that guards and centers barely have time to react to it. Out on the edge, he's also a slippery rusher who has great initial counters and usage of his hands overall. Once past the first blocker and he has a clear line of sight of the backfield/ball carrier, Hugan has lightning quick chase down speed, and his pursuit angles make him a near-automatic lock to reach his target on the first try. While speed is the name of his game, he's also flashed a violent initial strike on power rushes that is very disruptive.

Polish: There are few spots on the defensive line where Hugan doesn't line up. He's taken reps as a nose tackle in a zero tech, a two or three-tech defensive tackle, but also a five or six-tech edge rusher. His actual bend on his pass rush is a little hit-or-miss, but Hugan usually doesn't get completely stood up on blocks. While his game is mainly predicated on a quick-trigger reaction, Hugan has also done well on plays where he has to stay engaged in a block and read the backfield to make a play. It also helps that he has a very high motor and does not stop until the play is blown dead. Hugan is also a pretty fundamental tackler who wraps up nearly every time, and he plays with a bit of a physical/gritty edge to him despite being a speed rusher.

Bottom Line: Overall, this is an incredilby underrated pickup for Louisville. While he'll likely have to add some weight to his frame and fine tune a couple things with his pass rush fundamentals, Hugan displays an insane about of plus-upside thanks to overall explosiveness. In my opinion, he has the best HS tape from a UofL commit since T.J. Capers, and it wouldn't shock me at all to see him vie for playing time in year one.

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