Bengals must go all-in on Boye Mafe after dazzling Week 7 effort

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Boye Mafe is really coming into his own as he hits the prime of his NFL career. Although he was an expensive three-year, $60 million free agent for someone who was a rotational player in Seattle, Mafe has always had the tools to be an impact starter.

Turns out the Seahawks were just so deep on defense that Mafe couldn't get as many opportunities. Cincinnati has counted on him as a beyond-reproach starter, and he's answered the bell and then some.

After Week 7's 35-13 blowout of the Ravens in which the defense pitched a second-half shutout, Mafe proved that he's capable of even more than the chops he showed in the pre-bye games.

Mafe is having a monster maiden year in Cincinnati

While we have to acknowledge that Dexter Lawrence's singular presence gives Boye Mafe leverage to do his thing, the latter is an awesome player in his own right.

Mafe leads the Bengals with 4.5 sacks to Lawrence's four, and is PFF's No. 5-rated edge defender. He's ahead of studs like Maxx Crosby, T.J. Watt, Danielle Hunter, Josh Hines-Allen, and many other big names. Mafe also has the third-most QB hurries in the league (23).

Honestly, the eyeball test backs all that data up. Here's a beautiful marrying of those two concepts:

Every time I look up I feel like Mafe is in the backfield either disrupting a run play or pressuring the quarterback. He had a season-best 89.2 PFF defensive grade versus Baltimore, logging five pressures, 1.5 sacks, and five total tackles with no misses.

But here's a number that stands out: After dropping into coverage on just 16 snaps through the first five games, Mafe did so on 10 such occasions this past Sunday.

Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden may very well have more up his sleeve when it comes to deploying Mafe. Now that the team's new-look defense with loads of new personnel has had a bit of time to jell, it would appear as if Golden's vision is becoming more fully realized.

Boye could get even more help if the Bengals make some tweaks

Golden seemed to get into more simulated pressure looks when Cincinnati was on the ropes during that Ravens game and trailing 13-0 at halftime. The third down defense definitely still needs some work (ranked 30th), but because Boye Mafe is so evidently adept at dropping in coverage, Golden must capitalize on that.

By going a little bigger in personnel packages more often and effectively making Mafe a third off-ball linebacker, Cincinnati can get more true pass rush sets for rookie Cashius Howell, or shoot, what about 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart?

At some point, Stewart either needs to get on the field more or get traded. The more versatile ways Mafe can be used in the lineup by Golden, the more chances it should create for Howell and Stewart to accelerate their development. In turn, Mafe can become a better all-around player and even be fresher for true pass sets late in games, when the Bengals will most need him.

I mean come on, Boye was captured playing nickel in training camp! Surely Golden has more in the bag for him!

Again, Sexy Dexy drawing all those double teams is a true force multiplier that should only continue to wear opponents down and keep Mafe's promising start rolling on strong. However, it's clear that Mafe has the makings of a Pro Bowl-caliber defender who can really allow Golden to get creative with defensive subpackages.

If you ask me, I'd love to see Mafe move around and play both edge spots, which could mean cutting Myles Murphy's snap count some and giving Howell a bigger role.

There's just so much to like with Mafe so far. I don't feel like he's talked about enough. He's making the move off of Trey Hendrickson look like an absolute masterstroke.

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