Subscribe
Follow Us
The Seattle Seahawks’ 2023 roster is coming together, and the depth chart is pretty much set as we head into the dog days of the NFL offseason. This offseason was relatively drama-free after the Russell Wilson trade last summer. Geno Smith signed a nice extension, the Seahawks inked one of the best free agents on the market in Dre’Mont Jones, and the team seemed to nail their two first-round picks with Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon and Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And while the big names get most of the coverage, there are some hidden gems with big potential on the Seahawks’ roster as well, starting with pass rusher Boye Mafe and WR Dareke Young.
OLB Boye Mafe
Both hidden gems here on the Seahawks’ 2023 roster come from Seattle’s incredible 2022 NFL Draft. Running back Kenneth Walker III, offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, and cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant all had excellent seasons.
However, the Seahawks’ hit rate wasn’t perfect in that draft. As good as the players above were, second-round pick Boye Mafe, fifth-round defensive end Tyreke Smith, and seventh-round wideouts Bo Melton and Dareke Young didn’t contribute as much as the rest.
Mafe is the one on that second list who is a little surprising.
The former Minnesota Golden Gopher was the team’s second pick in the 2022 draft, but he didn’t perform like Walker, Lucas, Woolen, or Bryant. Mafe appeared in all 17 games and started three but only played 424 (37%) of the team’s defensive snaps. When on the field, the pass rusher racked up 41 tackles and 3.0 sacks.
Part of the reason for the lack of playing time was that Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor ahead of him both has solid seasons with 9.5 sacks. Another part is that Mafe was a rookie and most rookies start their careers slowly. It’s just that the other Seahawks rookies played so well this season that Mafe looked poor by comparison.
Despite not breaking out in his freshman NFL campaign, Boye Mafe is still an incredibly talented pass rusher with a lot of upside. That hasn’t changed in the last calendar year.
At 6-foot-4, 264 pounds, the former Gopher is a speed rusher who has talked about getting faster this offseason, both physically and mentally. If that speed shows up, he could not only torment NFC West offensive tackles but possibly supplant Nwosu or Taylor on the Seahawks’ 2023 depth chart as well.
Having five rookies breakout last season was incredible for Pete Carroll and company. If a sixth Class of 2022 prospect can do the same in Year 2, the team will be even better off than it is now.
WR Dareke Young
One of the other Seahawks rookies who didn’t produce all that much last season was the team’s last pick in the seventh round, wide receiver Dareke Young out of Division II Lenoir–Rhyne University in North Carolina.
Young is 6-foot-2, 224 pounds, and an athletic marvel, not unlike the WR in front of him, DK Metcalf. The only issue is that he is incredibly raw.
It’s one thing to make the jump from DII to the NFL. It’s another thing to make that jump after your junior year was wiped out by COVID and, in your senior season, you missed six games with an injury. Before last season, the last time Young played a full season of football was in 2019, and then in 2022, he was in the NFL.
Young got on the field for 109 snaps in 13 games last season, saw two targets, and caught both for 24 yards. He was also a major contributor on special teams, playing 60% of the team's snaps in that facet of the game.
The Seahawks' 2023 wide receiver room is a crowded one. In addition to the team’s stars, Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, Seattle also selected Ohio State wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Still, behind that, there isn’t much other than the diminutive Dee Eskridge, so Young will absolutely make the roster this season, especially with his special teams abilities. And once he’s on the roster, he could work his way up the depth chart.
In the end, the Seahawks took a flyer on a DII wideout like Dareke Young because he has all the physical tools to play the position at the professional level. Now, he just has to believe that and start putting together some good performances on offense.
If Young can do that next season, the sky is the limit. The truth is, with the limited amount of football he’s played in his career (and even less against top competition), Young is a likely third-year breakout candidate in 2024. However, keep an eye on him in 2023 anyway.
