Kwity Paye

[Chuck 54]

The more I read, the more I’m warming up to this guy IF he is still on the board for us.

6’4” - 277 LBs

Made great strides in his technique and skill set during coaching limitations of COVID season. Supposedly an athletic freak as we will see at combine.

“Paye has been forged by fire through a challenging upbringing as an immigrant and finds his "why" in taking care of his family — he's internally driven and appears to be the kind of individual you want in your building to buy into the process. He's a home run from an intangibles, effort and tools perspective but his scheme fit is an important accommodation to make for optimal success.”

Best fit is hand on the ground DE in 4-3.

We must not judge him by Taco just because both are Michigan DEs. Sounds like they have nothing in common. We need a powerful DE with size who can set the edge, make plays, but also collapse the pocket vs pass. I’d love to see him in a rotation with DLaw and Gregory, but also kicking inside at times in certain situations. Most mocks have him going a few spots before us, but between the QBs and WRs and OTs, he could be there at 10, and frankly, I don’t think we are looking at a huge drop off between CBs 1,2,3 and CBs 4,5,6. But Edge players who are not smallish speed rushers are in short supply.

This guy could end up being at least a Tolbert/Ellis type with the potential to be a Jeffcoat or more. My only reservation is that he will be 23 in November of his rookie year.

 

[tm1119]

I’m a fan, but not sure I’d take him at 10. I think more modern comps are Michael Bennett or Trey Flowers...really good run defenders that will also contribute 7-10 sacks a year. But then again, Paye is much more athletic than both of those players so the ceiling could be higher.
The big problem in evaluating him is that Michigan used him all over the d line and not primarily as an attaching edge rusher so it’s fair to question if he has the type of elite bend you usually look for in a top 10 DE.

 

[Chuck 54]

They should see that in combine and workouts,I hope.

 

[cnuball21]

Love the traits but pedestrian production.

I view him as a similar prospect to Rousseau in that their best football is likely still ahead of them.

10 is too rich. Much, much rather have Ojulari.

 

[visionary]

At 10 you can’t take someone based purely on potential
He needs to have produced to be picked at 10
I’d take an OL before I take Paye at 10

 

[beware_d-ware]

He feels pretty Taco-ish to me, in that he's a long dude who does his best work against the run and rarely gets pressure unless it's unblocked.

I'm not convinced that he'll bust as hard as Taco. For one, Taco was like a 40th percentile NFL athlete whereas Paye is going to be 90%+, so Paye has some moves in his bag that Taco couldn't dream of. For another, Taco mostly busted hard because he got frustrated and quit trying; he has the physical skills to at least play at the NFL level. From what I've heard, Paye is a lot mentally tougher than Taco was.

That being said, Taco wasn't ready to win as a pass rusher coming straight out of Michigan, and I think Paye is in a similarly bad place.