What will Hughes bring?

What to expect from the first rounder

We’ve been searching for the elusive third rusher for a long time, and now we feel like he can fill that bill,” Polian said of Hughes on draft weekend. “We’ve said seemingly forever that the third rusher who can substitute for Dwight and Robert is something we had not had. When Dwight and Robert were 100 percent healthy, the results spoke for themselves. When they’ve not been 100 percent healthy, the results have not been what we wanted. That’s the first priority. . . .

“We have said seemingly for the last seven years, ‘We need a third rusher. We need a third rusher.’ We need a guy who when one of the other two fellows is out of the lineup or not 100 percent can step in and perform at a similar level. We haven’t had that guy because they’re so hard to find.”