3 bold predictions for the Seattle Seahawks versus Los Angeles Rams Week 1

Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe gets 3 sacks

Boye Mafe was a very good player last preseason, but he was a rookie who didn't do much when the real games began. All offseason, however, he has looked fantastic. While he has gotten very little help this preseason (due to the Seahawks holding out players like Uchenna Nwosu to avoid any risk of them being hurt), Mafe has been a menace to opposing teams.

Unlike 2022, I think Mafe turns his preseason success into 2023 regular season success and has a monster season. He was already good against the run in 2022, though he will get a lot more reps this year. And while he wasn't horrible against the pass last year, another offseason of, well....seasoning, is only going to make him better.

Mafe should get 10 sacks this year. That's the floor. He is capable of having 15 or so. But I don't want him to feel too much pressure (thanks for reading this, Boye, and allowing me to put some silly pressure on you!), but Mafe could eclipse Nwosu as Seattle's most formidable edge rusher. Plus, he sets a hard edge against the run and Seattle probably needed him to play more last year as the team was awful stopping the run.

Los Angeles doesn't have a good offensive line, plus, they will probably focus more on Nwosu, and defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones. That should leave Mafe with more one-on-one blocking which he should be able to expose. He's a big and strong guy who may not still know how good he can be.