'Million Mile' Progression: Seahawks' Boye Mafe Set For More Snaps vs. Jets, Rams?

Making strides throughout his rookie season in a situational reserve role, Boye Mafe should be in line for an uptick in playing time as the Seattle Seahawks push for a playoff spot with two games remaining.

RENTON, Wash. - Prior to being drafted in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2022 NFL Draft, Boye Mafe cut his teeth as a standout pass rusher at Minnesota, earning All-Big Ten honors as a senior primarily due to his stellar sack numbers and reputation for hunting down opposing quarterbacks.

A bit of a late bloomer, Mafe only produced 3.5 sacks in his first two collegiate seasons. But he started to find his groove during a pandemic-shortened 2020 season, producing 4.5 sacks in only six games. He followed up with a strong senior season, leading the Golden Gophers with seven sacks rushing off the edge, and further bolstered his draft stock with a dominant Senior Bowl performance highlighted by two sacks and a forced fumble.

Upon his arrival in Seattle, most draft pundits viewed Mafe as a dynamic athlete with a refined pass rushing tool box who would need time to grow as a run defender. Though he compared him to former Pro Bowler Cliff Avril, coach Pete Carroll seemed to share the same viewpoint during training camp, telling reporters the rookie would benefit most from starting off his career utilized as a situational rusher to allow him to play faster off the edge while he developed the rest of his game.

But contrary to those assessments, with only two games left in his rookie season, Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt admitted following Wednesday's practice that he evaluated Mafe's overall game a bit differently coming out of the draft process than most. Acknowledging the young defender deserves more opportunities after performing well in a reserve role all year long, he surprisingly viewed pass rushing as the area where he needed the most long-term development.

“I actually felt he was a kid that was a good run defender, good in coverage, good in space, kind of good all-around player," Hurtt said of Mafe. "With the pass rush stuff, we had to work and develop a plan for him. That was going to be the part for him in the later development. So, he’s actually held true of where we thought he was going to be strong, but he’s shown things in practice where all the tools of what we’ve seen in the pass rush, we just have to continue to give him opportunities. So, we have to do a better job. I have to do a better job with that.”

As part of an exceptional rookie class for Seattle, while Mafe hasn't produced eye-popping numbers, he has been a steady contributor rotating at outside linebacker behind veteran starters Uchenna Nwosu and Bruce Irvin. In particular, backing Hurtt's analysis of his game, Mafe has been excellent setting the edge against the run.

Playing a hair under 25 defensive snaps per game, per Pro Football Focus, Mafe ranks fourth among rookie edge defenders with 24 solo tackles and third overall with 20 run stops constituting failed plays for the offense. Playing at least 90 fewer run defense reps to reach that total, he sits behind only Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker and Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the top two picks in April's draft.

Continuing to make splashy plays for the Seahawks with limited chances, Mafe enjoyed another strong outing in Saturday's 24-10 loss to the Chiefs. Despite only playing 20 snaps on defense, he finished with three tackles where the opposing running back picked up two yards or less, including chasing down Jerick McKinnon in backside pursuit for a tackle for loss that led to a punt by the NFL's highest-scoring offense.

Of course, critics will point to Mafe's underwhelming pass rushing numbers as a counter argument for him playing more at the expense of Irvin or Darrell Taylor. Though he does have two sacks, he only has generated eight quarterback pressures on 162 pass rushing snaps for a subpar 4.9 percent pressure rate. According to PFF, he also ranks 16th out of 17 qualified rookie rushers with a 3.3 pass rush productivity score, ahead of only Browns edge rusher Alex Wright.

With that said, as Carroll and Hurtt each pointed out, Mafe hasn't had near enough opportunities to find a rhythm as a pass rusher to this point. He ranks 10th among rookies in pass rushing snaps with at least 100 fewer chances than other high draft choices such as Walker, Hutchinson, Arnold Ebiketie, and George Karlaftis.

In three of the past four games, including against the Chiefs last weekend, Mafe has had just seven pass rushing snaps. That's not going to cut it from a development standpoint and while assistant coach Aaron Curry now holds the responsibility of orchestrating rotations and substitutions, Hurtt shouldered the blame and said the inexplicable lack of playing time, specifically rushing the passer, falls on him.

“We have to make sure we get him on the field because when he is out there, he is being impactful," Hurtt remarked. "Obviously, if he is doing that on a fewer number of reps, we obviously need to get him out there more, so he can play more and continue to develop. It’s hard to develop when you are on the sideline. He’s done a really nice job. Overall, we need to get him more rush opportunities. He’s been good in the run game all year long, but we have to give him more opportunities on third down and two-minute situations and pass rushes too.”

From Carroll's perspective, Mafe has come a "million miles" from where he was only a few short months ago at the start of his rookie season. More comfortable at his position in Seattle's hybrid 3-4 defense, he echoed Hurtt's sentiments that the athletic defender has earned more snaps, particularly in pass rushing situations.

“He’s playing faster, quicker, and responding better," Carroll commented. "He’s more physical. He’s more sure of himself. He’s just more confident and that’s all of the things to follow. He’s doing really well, so it’s good to see that happening.”

But this isn't the first time Carroll - or Hurtt for that matter - has said Mafe would see more snaps this year and Seattle hasn't exactly backed up those previous statements. Over the past five games, they have oddly chosen to play a 35-year old Irvin more than double the snaps compared to the rookie. While Irvin has been a great leader returning in a third stint with the team, that playing time split does not make sense on any front and shouldn't continue moving forward.

Though the playoffs hang in the balance and there's much left to play for in the present, building for the future remains the top priority for the Seahawks. It's time for Carroll and Hurtt to put those words into action and see what Mafe, who could be a cornerstone for the franchise on defense for years to come, can accomplish with a more extensive role as promised in the final home stretch.

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