Best Michigan Players Of The Harbaugh Era: No. 3, Mo Hurst
This week, The Wolverine is counting down the five best Michigan football players for the five years of Jim Harbaugh's tenure, as decided upon by our staff.
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Checking in at No. 3 is defensive tackle Maurice 'Mo' Hurst, who played for the Wolverines from 2013-17.
The Westwood, Mass., native redshirted his freshman year in 2013, before having a limited impact as a redshirt frosh in 2014, notching three tackles with one for loss in seven appearances.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh arriving on campus ahead of the 2015 season seemed to be all Hurst needed to become one of the best defensive tackles in the Big Ten the rest of his career. Hurst strung together three straight seasons of outstanding play on the interior of Michigan's defensive front, improving each and every year.
In 2015, he made 35 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks while starting in four of his 13 games played.
He was a part of a stacked defensive line room in 2016, actually being a backup to fellow interior linemen Ryan Glasgow and Matt Godin, but still playing a key role with starter-like production for then first-year coordinator Don Brown. He made 34 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one pass breakup, one fumble recovery and forced one fumble while playing in all 13 contests and helping the Wolverines to a 10-3 season with an Orange Bowl berth.
Unlike the 11 Michigan defenders who earned All-Big Ten honors in 2016, Hurst did not receive any recognition from the conference despite his stellar season, and that was part of the reason why he decided to return to Ann Arbor for his fifth-year senior season in 2017.
If Hurst wasn't considered dominant as a redshirt junior, he certainly was as a fifth-year. Though the Wolverines limped to a disappointing 8-5 finish, Hurst recorded 61 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two passes defended and one forced fumble on the year.
He was named a Consensus All-American and the recipient of Michigan's Bo Schembechler Team MVP award and Defensive Player of the Year award.
Originally projected as a first-round pick heading into the draft process, Hurst was sent home from the 2017 NFL Combine due to doctors flagging his medical tests for a heart condition. Things checked out when he got examined at U-M and Harvard, but he still slid all the way until the fifth round in the draft, being selected by the Oakland Raiders.
In his two years in the league so far, he's totaled 49 tackles and 7.5 sacks while starting in 14 of his 29 career appearances.
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