Here’s an interesting exercise. Matt Holder of Bleacher Report looked at each of the league’s 32 rosters and chose each club’s “best kept secret” as teams begin OTAs. When it came to Mike Macdonald’s club, he chose a member of his defensive unit who happens to be entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Boye Mafe was a second-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 from the University of Minnesota. These days, he’s Pro Football Focus’ 24th-ranked edge defender. This past season, he played in 15 games and made 11 starts for Macdonald’s club. He totaled 40 tackles, and was third on the club behind Pro Bowler Leonard Williams (11.0) and two-year pro Derick Hall (8.0) with six sacks.
In 2023, he enjoyed a big year—starting and playing in 16 games. Mafe led the club with nine sacks and 16 quarterback hits. He also knocked down six passes and came up with a pair of fumble recoveries.
“The Seahawks have a deep collection of pass-rushers,” stated Holder, “and Mafe is a big factor in the equation. He’s logged 15 sacks and has 105 total pressures, per PFF, over the last two regular seasons. The 2022 second-round pick is also coming off a campaign where he posted an impressive 77.8 PFF grade as a run defender.”
That latter grade is not only worth noting when it comes to the 26-year-old defender, it puts Mafe at No. 12 on the list amongst edge rushers in the league when it comes to defending the run. All told, Mafe is far more than a one-dimensional player, and if he continues to impress as he has these past two seasons, he will certainly no longer be one of the Seahawks’ or one of the league’s best kept secrets.
