NFL Draft rewind Boye Mafe Hopkins
Originally published back in 2016 when we were still northstarfootballnews.com here is a look back at what Boye Mafe – former Minnesota Gophers’ star and recent second round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks – was up to during his senior season with the Hopkins Royals.
Recruiting started slowly for Hopkins senior Boye Mafe. While he was roaming the Royals defense as a junior, he wasn’t on many college programs’ radars. Through six games this season and a solid showing during the camp season last summer, Mafe is squarely in the sites of many Division I programs.
It has been an up and down season for the Royals in 2016. They have split their first six contests.
“We have been coming out flat in some of our games and pick it up in the second half,” Mafe said. “I feel like if we fix that we can change games and not have to come back every game.”
When they have made those comebacks and played well, Mafe feels they do the little things well.
“We come downhill harder on defense; we are blocking better, running better routes and giving better effort.”
Depending on the opponent, Mafe will usually play on one side or the other as an outside linebacker in Hopkins’ 3-4 base defense.
“I came into the season with high expectations for myself. Being an outside linebacker I don’t always have the opportunities to make plays because they can run the ball away from me,” Mafe said. “I try to do the best I can in those situations. I feel like I could have made a couple more plays, but I do what I can.”
What he can do is a little bit of everything from the linebacker position.
“I make quick reads. I can strip the ball well, I can chase plays down from the backside, and I am able to shed blocks quickly.”
Mafe, in his second year stating on varsity, knows he can improve to help his team this season and into his college career.
“In my mind, I could be more aggressive, and I could work on my pass rush moves,” Mafe admitted.
In the offseason, Mafe – who stands 6’5″ and weighs 230 pounds – plays on the basketball team, and in the spring he is on the track team.
“In basketball, I play the four, and I am mainly a defender and rebounder,” Mafe – who likes to fish for bass and walleye – said. “In track, I run sprints, I high jump and throw the shot put.”
As far as football preparation goes, Mafe obviously worked to improve his strength and speed, but skill-wise he focused on improving his footwork in both pass coverage and run reads.
Mafe’s recruiting has been a whirlwind experience.
“It was kind of a shock. I didn’t know I would be playing football in college until I got the call from North Dakota. After that other schools came into play. After I went to the Nike Opening, I picked up an offer from Wyoming. During the summer I went to camp at North Dakota and Minnesota. Recruiting has been short for me. I know people who have been recruited since freshman and sophomore year. For me, it didn’t start until the end of my junior year. I have been recruited heavy the past four or five months.”
Outside of the exposure, Mafe took away a lot of little technique things to help him in both the run and pass game.
Although the recruiting process started slowly, in addition to Wyoming and North Dakota, Mafe now has offers from Minnesota, Northern Iowa, and South Dakota State. North Dakota State and South Dakota have also shown interest in the senior. If Mafe continues to impress on the field during the tail end of the season, what started slow will pick up steam.