Kwity Paye is the Top Edge Rusher in the 2021 NFL Draft
By: Francesco Scivittaro
Tags: College Football, Scouting, Michigan Wolverines, Football, NFL Draft

Breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of Michigan’s dynamic edge rusher

Rey Del Rio — Getty Images

While lacking a “can’t miss” future Pro Bowler like Chase Young, Nick Bosa, or Myles Garrett, the 2021 draft class has a deep crop of edge rushers that will end up with first-round grades from some NFL franchises. While scouting this year is an especially difficult task with some players opting out of the season and others playing in only a handful of games, Kwity Paye took advantage of his shortened season to pull ahead of the pack.

Overview

Heading into this season, Kwity Paye was widely considered one to watch after posting a solid true junior season with 6.5 sacks in 12 games played, and this season he has separated himself in my eyes as the best of the bunch, even as the idle Gregory Rousseau seems have held on to the lead on most of #DraftTwitter’s rankings. In what was a bit of a star-crossed season for Michigan, Paye took advantage of a positive game script against Minnesota to tee off, sacking QB Tanner Morgan twice and zooming up draft boards. Since then, he’s settled into a pretty wide range, sneaking into the top ten on certain mock drafts while falling into the twenties in others.

Strengths

Previously considered a raw prospect, Kwity Paye applied himself this year and made some improvements that should land him in the top half of the first round. At 6'4" and 272 pounds, Paye will have no trouble at all playing defensive end in even fronts. His physicality is obvious on tape, where Paye’s dense frame and grown man strength makes him impossible to detour once he’s gotten a favorable angle on an offensive tackle. He takes short, quick strides that give him a good turn radius and cornering ability, and it makes it hard for quarterbacks to shake him once he has a bead on them. In essence, it’s really hard to run him around the arc, and there isn’t much room for error with Paye or he’ll power through your recovery attempt on his way to the QB.

In this clip, Paye is lined up at right defensive end against the left tackle. He then stunts inside and gets a favorable angle against the left guard. The impressive part of this clip is what happens after. The guard knows the rep isn’t lost, and he tries to push Paye around the arc, but Paye turns the corner and starts chasing MSU QB Rocky Lombardi as if the guard weren’t even there. The play ends with Lombardi getting rid of the ball under pressure. It’s simply impossible to block Paye when he attacks half-a-man; he’s just too powerful.

The big step forward Paye took this year is with his hand usage. His hands are violent and sync well with his feet, and the end result is that offensive tackles rarely control the engagement. Paye can create an opening for himself even if his initial rushing plan has been foiled by breaking the OT’s hold on him and opening the gate for himself. OTs will often end up off-balance and leaning too far forward as their hold on him is shattered.

This will be Paye’s bread and butter in the NFL. He starts his outside rush, then the moment the right tackle tries to land his punch, Paye clubs his hands down and the OT is left off-balance and with his weight forward. Paye then turns at a right angle and finishes the sack before the OT has a chance to recover.

Paye projects as a good run defender, with the necessary strength and size to hold up at the point of attack, and he showed good fundamentals stacking and shedding at the college level. His motor is solid, and he is a generally consistent player.

Weaknesses

Paye’s speed/get off isn’t his selling point. There are plenty of reps on his tape where his get-off is notably behind that of counterpart Aidan Hutchinson. He won’t win many reps with pure speed, which decreases his options a bit. He seems to lack the same upside as toolsier prospects with the length of Rousseau and the burst of Jayson Oweh. All that being said, Paye isn’t slow either, and he will win the occassional rep with speed, particularly if he’s mixing up his pass-rushing plan.

Paye occasionally gets his shoulders turned around on run plays and loses the opportunity to make the tackle as the ball-carrier bursts through Paye’s gap. He’ll have to work to minimize this issue, but he should have the functional strength to make it work.

Role/Projection

Paye should have a fine combine, but may not wow scouts in the 40 or with his jumps. His timed agility is legendary and plays up extremely well with his strength.

Between his NFL-ready strength and flashes of improved hand usage, Paye should be able to step right in and start for a needy NFL franchise. I like his chances of becoming a key contributor worthy of a first-round selection. Bottom-feeder teams may prefer rolling the dice on the higher upside of Rousseau or Oweh, but Paye would be a smart pick for most teams.