I currently have a 2.35 minion dhf on the front and 2.25 ardent on the rear of my hardtail.
Used for riding local woods so just dirt/mud and roots, no rocks or hard packed armoured trails.

When it gets real muddy the ardent becomes pretty useless with no real traction.
So after hours of mind numbing research decided on swapping out the ardent for a medusa.
But some how I actually ordered a 2.35 muddy Mary.

But have since read that the Mary in 2.35 is actually closer if not slightly bigger than a maxxis 2.5 in size.
And after also reading that the Mary makes a good front tyre I may be better off moving the minion to the rear and sticking the Mary on the front rather than straight swapping the ardent for the Mary.

Minion dhf is a good front or rear tyre, mary front/minion rear will be fine. Your right though, the Mary’s are huge so not the best option as a rear tyre on a hardtail unless you’ve got stacks of clearance.

You’ll find most DH’ers who use minions run dhf’s both front and rear as they grip better. I do and find it good in most conditions. It’s not a true mud tyre mind however it’s really and intermediate. I use ardents and they are very much a ‘minion Lite’ def a dry to intermediate tyre.

Schwalbe notoriously come up large size wise. I’ve seen 2.5’s whose profile was as wide as a 2.7″ maxxis.

I’d run Mary front Minion rear without worrying.

Some run the DHF backwards on the rear for more grip, though it will make it more draggy.

Myself I’m quite into the High Roller II on the back for grip and a big improvement over the regular HR. Both versions I’ve found are good at powering through mud and clear the mud well (except clay, but nothing shifts clay). HR II is a chunky and draggy tyre for a hard tail though, but depends how & what you ride.

I run minion front/ HR rear on my FS bike all the time as this only gets used at swinley and the likes.
Where I have found although the fire roads can turn into a bog when wet the armoured trail when wet is more like well weathered concrete than natural, a solid tight packed mass of shiny hard flint stones without a trace of dust or mud impossible to even leave a tyre track in.

I also ran a highroller on the rear of my hardtail last year on general xc loops, but the right way around as by turning it round would give you more traction through the pedals but also less traction under braking.

Hopefully this winter/ spring is not as wet as the last.

DHF is good on the rear, but I didn’t like how it slides, it’s a wee bit abrupt and once it’s gone, it takes a lot to get it back. But still miles better than the DHR!

DHR2 is better on the rear than both a DHF and a DHR, why they even tarred it with the same brush as a DHR i’m not sure, they should’ve called it something totally different as it bears no resemblance to that tyre!