REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed American defensive back JuJu Hughes, the team announced on Thursday.
Hughes (five-foot-11, 190 pounds) signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft. He went on to play 26 regular season games including 12 as a rookie with the Rams (2020-21), and seven with the Detroit Lions (2022). Over three NFL seasons he registered 26 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. He attended training camp with the Cardinals in 2023 before going on to spend time with the United Football League’s Birmingham Stallions.
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Collegiately, Hughes spent four seasons (2016-19) with the Fresno State Bulldogs, registering 247 tackles, including 10 for a loss, seven interceptions, 30 pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery over 52 games. He had four interceptions — tying him for the Mountain West Conference lead — and 12 pass deflections over 14 games in 2018 and followed up with two picks and 10 deflections in 12 games as a senior.
The California-born Hughes was an All-Mountain West Second-Team selection in 2018 and a conference Honourable Mention choice in 2016 and 2018. As a sophomore in 2016, he started all 14 games, registering seven tackles for a loss to go with one sack, one interception and eight pass deflections.
Hughes (whose legal name is Juwuane) and current Roughriders receiver KeeSean Johnson were college teammates in 2016, 2017 and 2018.