Michigan Football: Reaction, grades and more on Kwity Paye to Colts

Michigan football had its sixth first-round pick in the last five years as Kwity Paye was selected by the Colts 21st overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

It was only a matter of time before Kwity Paye heard his named called in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft and while it might have taken longer than expected for the former Michigan football standout, he landed in a great spot with the Colts.

Indianapolis runs a four-man front, which is the perfect landing spot for Paye, who is already being penciled in as a day-one starter according to some new depth charts released.

That’s because Paye, who is 6-foot-4 and around 260 pounds, is a beast against the run, in addition to being an elite pass rusher.

People want to talk about his lack of sack production in college, but it’s not that rare to see high-end pass rushers not have a ton of sacks. Just look at Rashan Gary. He wasn’t overly productive with Michigan football and he’s developing into an elite edge rusher for Green Bay.

Yet, Colts general manager Chris Ballard liked what he saw in Paye and told MLive that when he watched the film, Paye just jumped out at him.

According to CBS Sports, the Colts pick of Paye received a B minus. However, the Bleacher Report graded the pick as an A, and here’s part of what they wrote about Paye:

"“From an evaluation standpoint, Paye is both a standout athlete and an ever-improving pass-rusher. He’s a 270-pound defensive lineman with sub-4.6-second 40-yard-dash speed. He ranked first among Big Ten defenders last season with a 25.8 pass-rush win percentage, per Pro Football Focus. Paye has all the makings of a top defensive end who can average double-digit sacks throughout his career.”"

Here’s a great example of a game that Paye was able to dominate in college (Iowa, 2019) and this is a peek of what the Colts are hoping to get every Sunday in the NFL.

On an interesting note, Michigan football actually had the same number of first-round picks as Ohio State. Paye and Justin Fields each went in the first round.

However, Penn State and Northwestern each led the way for the conference with two first-round picks each, which wasn’t a huge surprise when you look at individual players but is interesting to see how that dynamic played out.

Jalen Mayfield was thought to have a chance to be selected in the first round. Now, the Michigan football alum will hope to hear his name called on day two along with guys like Nico Collins, Ambry Thomas, and Cam McGrone.