Raiders’ Maurice Hurst ready to contribute on deeper D-line

Raiders defensive tackle Maurice Hurst was supposed to be a first-round pick in 2018. Not a fifth-round pick.

No hard feelings, though.

“It was just something that happened. I feel like I’ve been able to help out some other guys that have gone through similar situations,” the 6-foot-2-inch, 291-pound Hurst said Sunday. “I just try and look at it as a blessing that I’m with the Raiders. (I ended up) on a great team and somewhere I love.”

Hurst is preparing to play his third NFL season on what could be the most formidable defensive line of his burgeoning career. The 25-year-old said he thinks the Raiders have the requisite depth to thrive under new position coach Rod Marinelli.

Especially after the additions of free agents Maliek Collins, Carl Nassib and Daniel Ross.

“(He) wants us running to the ball every play, and every play is all out,” Hurst said. “We’ll be able to rotate, kind of like hockey players. Line in, line out. And we have the guys to do that.”

Hurst was one of the best defensive players in the country during his junior and senior seasons at Michigan. He posted 59 tackles as a senior in 2017 — including 5.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss — and was a consensus All-American.

But he was diagnosed with a heart condition at the combine and went from a likely first-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft to the 140th pick.

“Everything happens here for a reason,” Hurst said. “You just have to make the most out of whatever situation you’re in.”

Hurst has done that in two seasons, becoming a reliable rotational defensive lineman poised for another productive campaign. He played 46 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie and half the snaps last season, aggregating 49 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

Harris impressed with secondary

Veteran safety Erik Harris has been with the Raiders since 2017, making him the longest tenured player in an increasingly youthful secondary.

As the group’s elder statesman, Harris said Sunday he likes what he’s seen from his young teammates through two weeks of training camp.

“Athleticism, and they’re buying into the process. They’re buying into the scheme of what we’re trying to teach here,” Harris said. “They listen. There’s no ego involved with it.”

The Raiders drafted cornerbacks Damon Arnette and Amik Robertson in April to play alongside second-year corner Trayvon Mullen and second-year safety Johnathan Abram. They also fortified their depth with the signing of veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara and safeties Damarious Randall and Jeff Heath.

The Raiders allowed 4,107 passing yards last season, eighth most in the NFL, and 33 passing touchdowns, tied with the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans for fourth most.

But “there’s definitely something to build on,” said the 30-year-old Harris, who started 14 games in 2019 and posted a career-high 74 tackles to go with three interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns.

Raiders cut two

The Raiders waived running back William Stanback and linebacker Bryce Hager. The transactions correspond with the additions of linebacker Kyle Emanuel and running back Theo Riddick, whom the club signed Saturday.

Stanback, 26, signed with the Raiders in January after starring last year for the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes. He has not played in the NFL.

Hager, 28, signed with the Raiders this month. He played the past five years with the Los Angeles Rams, totaling 48 tackles.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.