Boye Mafe's production draws eerie parallels to 2 former Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals hit the ground running during the legal tampering window of NFL free agency. They immediately secured the services of edge rusher Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook. 

And that is wonderful news from an organization that seemingly relies on “hope” as much as an actual plan. As the great Jake Liscow of Locked on the Bengals once prophetically stated, hope is not a plan.

Now, the Bengals are hoping Mafe will take a step toward becoming one of the league's best sack masters, the way Trey Hendrickson did, while crossing their fingers they did not shell out a huge commitment akin to the second contract of Carl Lawson.

Advanced stats show Boye Mafe’s potential

Yes, Mafe absolutely has the pressure statistics that you would want from an edge rusher. Furthermore, the former Seahawks defensive end immediately becomes the best pass-rusher on the Bengals' roster. But that isn't saying much.

In theory, the only reason he hasn't been able to get to opposing quarterbacks consistently is because of his place on Seattle's depth chart.

However, when given the opportunity, Mafe has shown that he can perform at an elite level, right up there with past rushers like Maxx Crosby and a healthy Aidan Hutchinson.

Nevertheless, some think the Bengals are valuing traits over production, fearing Mafe might be closer to Shemar Stewart after leaving Seattle with just 2 sacks, 31 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 4 QB hits last season.

Yet Mafe’s career stats through his first four years remind us of another former Bengals edge rusher.

Bengals fans are familiar with this kind of edge rusher before

In the 2017 NFL draft, the Bengals selected edge rusher Carl Lawson in the fourth round out of Auburn.

Lawson was an athletic wonder at the edge position who immediately outplayed his draft position, recording 8.5 sacks in his rookie season.

If Shamar Stewart had recorded 8.5 sacks last season, many fans would've advocated putting a statue of him in front of Paycor Stadium.

Lawson has yet to reach an eight-sack season since his rookie year. And a big part of the reason is not that he couldn't beat the offensive linemen for pressure, but that once he got there, he couldn't consistently bring down the QB for a sack.

That is a concern some Seattle Seahawks fans have raised about what the Bengals are getting with the Mafe acquisition.

Boye Mafe and Carl Lawson share eerily similar early-career stats through first 4 years

In Lawson’s four years in Cincinnati, he recorded 20 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 83 QB hits, and two forced fumbles. 

In his first four years with the Seahawks, Mafe registered 20 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, 36 QB hits, and three forced fumbles. 

Lawson’s Bengals career allowed him to take his talents to the Big Apple in free agency, where the Jets gave him a three-year, $45 million contract with $30 million guaranteed in 2021.

While Lawson came close to his rookie sack numbers in 2022 for the Jets with seven, he never fully achieved the pass-rushing potential that he showed in his rookie year in Cincinnati.

The Trey Hendrickson blueprint the Bengals hope to repeat

On the other hand, there is a good reason the Bengals brass believes Mafe will go the way of Trey Hendrickson rather than Carl Lawson.

In Hendrickson's first four seasons, he also compiled 20 sacks while recording 65 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and 43 QB hits.

The biggest difference between Hendrickson and Mafe is that the Bengals gave Hendrickson a huge contract coming off a 13.5 sack season with 12 tackles for loss and 25 quarterback hits. All of which were career highs. Meanwhile, Mafe is coming off career lows in 2025.

While Bengals fans knew that we saw the best of what Lawson was going to be, Hendrickson came in and blew the doors off of our expectations.

Now, we must hope Mafe can turn the corner from analytical promise to realized sack numbers. Performing at or above the expectations we had for Hendrickson’s production from the last two seasons would mean Mafe’s best playing days are in front of him at this critical fork-in-the-road moment.