Good morning, 12s. Here's a look at what's out there today — Wednesday, November 8 — about your Seattle Seahawks.

Michael-Shawn Dugar highlights how Boye Mafe's rise in Year 2 might not come to a surprise for those who have watched Mafe since his college career, but Dugar offers insight into why exactly fans have seen a jump.

This year, Mafe has swapped potential for production. Through eight games, he leads the Seahawks with six sacks and has recorded one in each of the last six games, tying a franchise record. Mafe also leads Seattle in quarterback hits (nine) and pressure rate (13.5 percent) among qualifying defenders (all stats provided by TruMedia unless noted otherwise). Mafe's pressure rate ranks 41st out of 184 NFL defenders with at least 100 pass rush snaps. He's third in pass rush win rate (27 percent), according to ESPN, which measures how often a player beats his block within 2.5 seconds. Only Cleveland's Myles Garrett and Dallas' Micah Parsons rank higher.

Mafe's competitiveness to be great can be credited to his upbringing and Dugar pulls back the curtain to explain.

During the 90 minutes of downtime between the team walk-throughs and the start of practice, Mafe can often be found seated in one of four recliners aligned around a gaming table by his locker. Whether playing cards or dominoes, Mafe is usually jawing back and forth with his teammates like family members at a backyard barbecue.

This environment mirrors what Mafe was used to growing up in Golden Valley, Minn., as the youngest of six siblings in an extremely athletic family. His older brother, Dami, and two of his cousins played college football. One of them (Ayo Idowu) had a tryout with the Seahawks in 2013. Boye's sister, Tayo, starred in rugby and played on the U-19 U.S. Women's National Team.

To be a child in his household meant battling to be the best, no matter the activity.

The person Mafe is today — constantly working behind the scenes, asking questions, doing extra film study, trying to perfect the product seen on Sundays — can be traced to his upbringing. The steps he took to make that second-year leap are a product of the principles he picked up from his parents, Nigerian immigrants who came to America in the 1970s.

You can find the full feature on The Athletic. As Seahawks’ Boye Mafe slowed the game down, his play took off: ‘He’s been balling’

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