Mike McHugh, Northwestern Wildcats football, No. 83

They're not booing, they're saying MCHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. Yes, Mike McHugh is a 6'3, 185-pound wide receiver for Northwestern, hoping to make his mark in a deep, deep corps. In other news, I still wrote all these like two weeks ago and have lost track of time and space. Let's learn about me and Hugh, your momma and your cousin too.

Origin myth

McHugh, from the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, wasn't the most highly touted prospect - three stars with most services, two stars with Scout, the No. 231 receiver and No. 16 player in Missouri per 247's composite. But Northwestern brought him up to a one-day camp, and, impressed with his speed, Pat Fitzgerald offered him on the spot. He accepted on the same day, picking the Wildcats over offers from Indiana and some FCS schools. The Wildcats were smart to get in early. His senior year, McHugh would be first-team all-State, catching 26 passes for 980 yards and 20 touchdowns - do the math on those yards-per-catch - registering three return touchdowns on seven attempts and picking off three passes as a defensive back.

Here's what dude looked like in high school. *vertical

At Northwestern

McHugh redshirted his freshman year.

Anagram of choice

Discovering the Wildcats' true inner selves through spelling

Mike McHugh, anagrammed, is

MUCK EM HIGH

I muck em high muck em high muck em high, you muck em low muck em low muck em low. Pretty much anything related to the Space Jam soundtrack is a winner in this guy's book.

(Rejected options: "Heck, mug him!" (some real folksy muggers who won't use swear words) and "him Keg much" (a solid descriptor of my college experience, RIP TKOE)

Relevant musical selection

"Stimela", Hugh Masekela You realize how few people there are named "Hugh" out there? South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela ain't the worst.

Adventures in googling

Mike McHugh was also a briefly prominent hockey player who was in the NHL for one season. He went to the University of Maine, so HE IS OUR BITTER RIVAL AS OF RIGHT NOW.

How he can help

Mr. McHugh is somewhat unlucky: Northwestern has a stacked receiving corps, and amongst those players, he's one of the ones with the least experience and the least hype. But speed and proper route running can make any player in Northwestern's wide receiving depth chart into a serviceable inside receiver, and that's where McHugh projects. Everything we've heard indicates he has a decent skillset to operate out of the slot, and Northwestern's coaches have apparently liked what they've seen, starting in his recruiting process and continuing through his time on the practice field.

Depth chart projection

We have McHugh as a backup at an inside receiver position. Sure, there are a lot of players on the depth chart, but earlier this spring, Pat Fitzgerald outlined eight players he believed would regularly see playing time at wide receiver, and McHugh was on the listThe players in that role last year were good for a lot of playing time, although not a lot of catches. Although McHugh will see the field a decent amount, this is still a learning period - dude's a redshirt freshman - and the majority of targets will go to his more talented elders this season.