Boye Mafe: Will He Rebound in 2024?

Photo: USA Today Sports

IDP Fantasy Football is a game of trends. While these can be tricky to read, starting your endeavor in leagues like this with a plan is important. The ultimate agony is that there isn't a right way to read these. They are up for interpretation and sometimes are nothing more than information available to you. This is not the case when discussing Seattle's edge rusher, Boye Mafe. Early indications from looking at his statistics through two years may signal that he is in bust territory, considering his second-round capital in the NFL draft back in 2022. But there's a good chance we haven't seen peak Mafe just yet. Here is why Boye Mafe will rebound in the 2024 season.

What Went Wrong in 2023

To rebound from a season, we must understand what went wrong and why a season was bad. For Mafe, I wouldn't consider his season a bad one. Rather, it was disappointing. Too often, Mafe must rely on big plays to stay fantasy-relevant, and that sort of volatility can potentially lose weeks for your team. On three separate occasions last season, his only statistic was one sack. While that may sound great, it shows your true risk when playing him, especially in meaningful or must-win games. Mafe wasn't a credible enough player to risk games like that last season, contributing to a lower ADP and a high likelihood that his value is at a career low.  So, with all this negativity being present and available to you now, why should we believe that Mafe is a candidate to rebound this upcoming 2024 season?

This will sound like a contradiction to most of the articles in my repertoire, but the volatility that comes with Mafe is something that entices me. Unlike the linebacker position, the defensive end or edge position, in its nature, has volatility. The main task is to get after the opposing quarterback while the offensive line keeps the quarterback safe. Because of this, players like Mafe can be neutralized on any given Sunday due to double teams, play calling, or flat-out being beaten by the linemen. This wasn't necessarily Mafe's fault. The Seahawks had a bottom-tier defensive line last season that finished almost at the bottom in multiple categories last season. For players to get favorable opportunities 1-1 against opposing offensive lines, they must have credible teammates or at least teammates who can win at the point of attack. The Seahawks didn't make plays with this unit for most of last season. Despite this, Mafe had a career year in all metrics, the two most important being TFLs and Sacks.