Projecting the Seahawks sack totals: Cry "Havoc!", and let slip the dogs of war

Why Boye Mafe will rack up the sacks

A little over two months ago, I broke down why I believed that Boye Mafe would take a huge leap forward this season. If you want to take a bit of a dive into my mathy world, jump to the link. For those of you with the same deep love of study as Kyler Murray, I'll summarize. I showed the rookie seasons of four dynamic pass rushers and Mafe. The four other guys averaged 23 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 QB hits, and 3 sacks. Mafe had 41 tackles - three for a loss - four QB hits and three sacks. Seems like he was right in the mix, right?

Those other four guys are John Randle, Frank Clark, Dre'Mont Jones, and Jason Taylor. I'm sure you know what they went on to do in their careers. As sophomore destroyers, that group averaged 9 sacks. Taylor was the only player that had more than eight starts as a rookie. Mafe, as you know, had just three last year and played on just 37 percent of defensive snaps. His improvement this off-season has thrust him into the starting role across from his pal Dre'Mont. That increased playing time alone would easily double his pass rush numbers.

Of course, Mafe has indeed gotten better. Much better, which is another reason I'm confident my earlier prediction of double-digit sacks for him will hold up. I'll get to specific numbers at the end, but for now, let's look at the major newcomer, Derick Hall. Expectations for Hall have to be tempered by his shoulder injury sustained in the final preseason contest against the Packers. Let's assume Hall manages to get back on the field by week two. In that case, he's still got 16 games and could have a big impact for Seattle's pass rush.