2023 NFL draft: 10 biggest offensive standouts from 2023 East-West Shrine & Senior Bowl events

#9. Atonio Mafi, UCLA (Interior OL)

San Diego State v UCLA

I had a really tough time deciding on which interior O-lineman I wanted to talk about here, because there were three names that stood above the rest during East-West Shrine week. These were Penn State’s Juice Scruggs, N.C. State’s Chandler Zavala and the guy I settled on in Atonio Mafi.

Mafi actually started his career on the defensive line with the Bruins before transitioning back to offense. He started all 13 games at left guard last season, earning second-team All-Pac-12 accolades from league coaches.

We had a lot of powerful interior D-linemen in Vegas who tried to test Mafi during one-on-one’s, and basically, they all failed. Throughout the week, the former UCLA guard kept his hands in tight and was able to stymie those guys from a strong group on the other side trying to go through him.

When opposing rushers tried to lift him up on rip moves and get underneath him, Mafi rode those guys up the field, away from the quarterback. Day three, he completely stone-walled Boise State’s big D-tackle Scott Matlock on a bull-rush attempt, along with not allowing Penn State’s P.J. Mustipher to get to the outside edge on him, trying to swipe away the hands.

Even when it looked momentarily like Mafi got his weight shifted the wrong way against somebody on a hesitation move to the outside, he was able to ride that guy past the QB.

I don’t think he truly lost a single rep during one-on-ones either of the first two days and maybe one on day three. Yet, on top of his individual efforts, he also proved his value as a run-blocker during team drills. Mafi provided a solid bump on the angular block of combos to open up lanes right up the gut.

On the second day's first snap of inside run installs, Mafi did a great job of caving in P.J. Mustipher, slanting across his face as a three-technique. Two plays later, he and the left tackle drove that guy right into the lap of the linebacker behind it, allowing Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim to cut behind them for an untouched TD.

For a guy who weighed in at just under 340 pounds, I thought Mafi’s ability to beat linebackers to the spot when climbing up and his burst as a puller really popped as well. For that, he was named the West IOL of the Week.