Pro Football Focus (PFF) has been ranking collegiate NFL prospects since 2014 and made a list this week of the 32 best it has seen, and a former Michigan Wolverines football player made the cut.
Defensive tackle Mo Hurst (2013-17) checked in at No. 17 on their list, and was the fourth highest rated Big Ten athlete on their board (behind three OSU defensive ends — No. 4 Chase Young in 2020, Joey Bosa in 2016 and Nick Bosa in 2019).
"Maurice Hurst is up there with some of the most refined pass-rushing of any interior defensive line prospect we have seen," the outlet wrote.
"He posted PFF pass-rush grades of 89.7, 90.3 and 91.0 [64 is considered an average score for a player] in his last three years at Michigan and owned an impressive 16.1% pressure rate over that stretch.
"For perspective, that’s over 1.5 percentage points more than the highest interior defensive linemen pressure rate of the 2019 season.
"He posted one of the highest grades we have seen at 94.4 in his final season in 2017, which paved the way to the third most valuable interior defensive linemen season in the PFF College era."
Stats didn't necessarily tell the whole story for how dominant Hurst was as a fifth-year senior in 2017 (14.5 tackles for loss and five sacks), though his AP first-team All-American honors were a pretty good indicator.
Each of PFF's highest-graded Wolverines since 2014 have stuck on NFL rosters, with one of them already having become a bonafide star in Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark).
Pro Football Focus' highest-graded Michigan players since 2014:
• 2014 — Defensive end Frank Clark (92.1 grade): He enjoyed a successful four-year run with Seattle from 2015-18 that saw him rack up 35 sacks, before being traded to the Chiefs and compiling eight more quarterback takedowns this past year while winning a Super Bowl title.
• 2015 — Cornerback Jourdan Lewis (91.2): He has been with the Dallas Cowboys each of his three years in the NFL, and enjoyed the best statistical campaign of his pro career in 2019 when he registered 38 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions.
• 2016 — Defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow (90.6): He has primarily been a reserve for the Cincinnati Bengals, though injuries have derailed his career; after playing in all 16 games as a rookie in 2017, Glasgow has only competed in a combined eight since.
• 2017 — Defensive tackle Mo Hurst (94.4): He has been a mainstay in the Oakland Raiders' defensive line rotation, compiling 37 tackles and 7.5 sacks during his first two years in the NFL.
• 2018 — Defensive end Chase Winovich (90.2): He came off the bench during his rookie season in New England, but still managed to record 17 tackles and 5.5 sacks while also scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt he ran back for a score.
• 2019 — Linebacker Josh Uche (84): He led Michigan in sacks each of the last two years, and is projected to be either a second or third-round pick in April's NFL draft.
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