Grading the Seahawks signing of Benson Mayowa

Still in search for pass rushers, the Seahawks signed Benson Mayowa on Wednesday. How much will he have am impact on 2020?

New Seahawks defensive end Benson Mayowa is a one-note player. He can get to the quarterback somewhat well, or at least he did in 2019, but beyond that, he does not do much. However, what Seattle needs, besides high-end edge rushers, is depth among players who can take down opposing quarterbacks. While somewhat in a limited fashion, Mayowa can do that.

The guy who led the Seahawks in sacks last year was Rasheem Green. Seriously, and you know this. But if Green’s agent goes to re-work Green’s contract with Seattle and says, “You know, in 2019, my guy led your team in sacks and so we want (this much) money,” he would not have a bad argument. The problem is the facts are silly.

Green led Seattle with sacks with 4. Mayowa had 4 sacks with the Cardinals in 2018 which seemed not great. But his 7 sacks with the Raiders in 2019 now seems amazing, at least compared to what the Seahawks got from their own team last year.

Here is the issue. Mayowa can do one thing. Did he have 7 sacks last season? Yes. But he had 15 total tackles! This means of all the tackles Mayowa had last year, nearly half of them were sacks. Mayowa did have 10 quarterback hits. He would have ranked first in sacks among Seahawks and second in quarterback hits. In tackles, he would have ranked 23rd on the Seahawks. 23rd.

So if Seattle can get some high-end edge rushers, like re-signing Jadeveon Clowney, then Mayowa is great depth at getting to opposing quarterbacks. But if the Seahawks cannot get Clowney or some players of his ilk, the Mayowa signing isn’t good. If they can, it could be very good.

Grade: C