STrib: Defensive end Boye Mafe showing skills to become Gophers' next playmaker

[BleedGopher]

per Megan:

Back in March, P.J. Fleck described defensive end Boye Mafe as “twitched up.”

The Gophers coach couldn’t hype up Mafe enough, glowing about the Golden Valley native’s 40-inch vertical and impressive speed for a 6-4, 265-pound defensive lineman. By all accounts, Mafe was the heir apparent at rush end to Carter Coughlin, a current New York Giants linebacker who recently sacked Tom Brady.

“Sometimes you need a guy to graduate to really see the potential of somebody else,” Fleck said eight months ago. “And I think that’s a perfect [explanation of] what Boye’s going through … because we see more leadership from him, we see more excitement, we see more productivity in two months than we had when he was No. 2.”

Fast forward to the start of the season, and Mafe wasn’t even the starter for the first two games. Thomas Rush, an offseason switch from linebacker to rush end, took the spot instead.

Defensive end Boye Mafe showing skills to become Gophers' next playmaker

After not starting in the first two games, Boye Mafe broke into the Gophers starting lineup and played a key role in the victory over Illinois.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[MGGopher]

IMO, Mafe playing such a low percentage of snaps the first two games was one of the biggest head-scratchers of the season thus far. Great to see him out there so often against Illinois.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

IMO, Mafe playing such a low percentage of snaps the first two games was one of the biggest head-scratchers of the season thus far. Great to see him out there so often against Illinois.

Is this true? I could certainly be wrong but I thought he was out there quite a bit.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Is this true? I could certainly be wrong but I thought he was out there quite a bit.

Yes...Ryan Burns was complaining a bunch after the Maryland game, saying that Mafe needs to be on the field for a much higher % of snaps.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Yes...Ryan Burns was complaining a bunch after the Maryland game, saying that Mafe needs to be on the field for a much higher % of snaps.

Oh yeah, I think Mafe got pulled at one time for a bit for running way too far upfield. I didn't realize it was more than just a handful of plays.

I agree, Mafe is one of our only playmakers on D.