Seahawks 90-Man Countdown: EDGE Boye Mafe - Overlooked Rush Weapon?

Proving himself to be a capable rotational edge defender and surprising against the run as a rookie, Boye Mafe has sights on taking the next step forward towards becoming a full-time starter for the Seattle Seahawks with a more refined pass rushing arsenal.

Corbin K. Smith | Jul 10, 2023

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Seattle Seahawks

With the calendar flipping to July and offseason activities in the rearview mirror, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC later this month, officially ushering in the 2023 season.

To celebrate the new incoming season, we'll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2023 campaign.

Boye Mafe, EDGE

Height/Weight: 6-4, 261 pounds

2022 Stats: 41 tackles, three sacks, three tackles for loss

Following a strong senior season at Minnesota with seven sacks and a Third-Team All-Big Ten selection, Mafe further bolstered his draft stock winning National Player of the Game honors at the Senior Bowl and turning heads with a dizzying performance at the NFL combine. The rising prospect didn't last long in the 2022 NFL Draft, as the Seahawks invested one of their two second round selections to add the high-upside edge defender, expecting him to contribute early as a situational pass rusher.

Unexpectedly, while Mafe did produce a trio of sacks in his first season in Seattle, he made his greatest impact setting a firm edge as a run defender. Per Pro Football Focus, he finished fifth among rookie edge defenders with 14 run stops and finished the season with a stellar 72.6 run defense grade. Seeing a gradual uptick in snaps as the year progressed, he produced four quarterback pressures in the team's final two games, including a playoff loss to San Francisco, showing signs of coming to life rushing the passer.

Best-Case Scenario: Exhibiting more burst off the edge and upgraded counter moves in a developing pass rushing arsenal, Mafe comes out hot early in training camp and puts on a show hunting down quarterbacks during the preseason, beating out Darrell Taylor and rookie Derick Hall for the starting job across from Uchenna Nwosu and breaking out with 8.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

Worst-Case Scenario:

What to Expect in 2023: Before his arrival in Seattle, most draft pundits viewed Mafe as a bit of a project due to his limited starting experience at Minnesota and questions about him holding up against NFL tackles. To an extent, there was some truth to that assessment, though not in the way anticipated with him thriving as a run defender and offering minimal contributions as a rusher with a pedestrian six percent win rate and 5.9 percent pressure rate as a rookie.

But in Mafe's defense, the Seahawks didn't give him much of an opportunity to find a rhythm as a pass rusher, as he played 10 or fewer snaps in that capacity in eight out of 18 games played. With another offseason under his belt to continue working on his craft and shoring up his hand technique and counters, the team will be counting on him to take a significant step forward turning up the heat on opposing passers. If he can do that while maintaining his stellar run defense from a year ago, he should be viewed as a strong contender to start not only in 2023, but potentially beyond as a foundational cornerstone.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Profiles

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Published Jul 10, 2023

CORBIN K. SMITH

Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast. He joined the Arena Group in August 2018 and also currently hosts the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast with Rob Rang and Nick Lee. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, Smith dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.