Kwity Paye Is A Beast

It's starting to look more and more like Kwity Paye will be a top ten pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Former Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye has been a unique athlete for a long time. He doesn't have picture perfect measurables when it comes to the defensive end position at 6-4, but he's very fast and really understands leverage and how to use his hands.

Oh yeah, he's also insanely strong.

200lb kettlebell in my hands plus 3 weight vests 🥶 pic.twitter.com/lq8NCQS3nq

— Kwity Paye (@OfficialKwity) January 21, 2021

As the tweet says, Paye is holding a 200-pound kettle bell chin high and wearing three weighted vests while knocking out single-leg squats like it's nothing. Paye has always been muscle bound, but this type of exercise is literally impossible for some people without any additional weight. The fact that he's got the knees and pure quad, glute and hamstring strength for this lift is ridiculous.

Before the season started, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic dubbed Paye the biggest "freak" in college football. After watching Paye bust out these reps and hearing Feldman explain his decision, it's hard to argue.

"He clocked the second-best 3-cone time on the team at a blistering 6.37 seconds, which would have topped anyone at the 2020 combine," Feldman wrote. "Paye’s 40 is also moving at 4.57, with a solid 34-inch vertical and 30 reps on the bench press. Paye’s 40 time and 4.15 pro shuttle time are better than any D-lineman or edge player who tested at the 2020 combine. His 11.3 time in the 60-yard shuttle is also elite."

Those kinds of athletic numbers and solid production at Michigan are reasons why NFL teams will likely be fighting over Paye's draft rights.

I remember seeing Paye as a high school senior in Rhode Island and thinking, "Wow. Michigan is getting a monster in this kid." He was so built, so verstaile and just so much better than everyone else it wouldn't have mattered where he played. Obviously being from the smallest state in the union that doesn't produce much football talent kept Paye under the radar, but after taking one look at him I knew he'd be just fine at Michigan. On the football field, he wore the No. 1, legitimately played running back — we're not talking about a big defensive lineman used only to punch it in from the one-yard line — and absolutely wrecked people when making tackles. On the track he was also a star. He was a member of the state champion 4x100 meter relay team and won the state championship in the long jump as a junior with a mark of 21 feet, 5 inches. Absolutely unreal for someone his size.

Paye is a little short, and doesn't have the kind of length you'd typically prefer in a pass rusher, but those numbers, stats and accomplishments, along with his drive to be great and football smarts have him in elite company. Former Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown once called him the smartest football player he's ever coached. Brown's been around for a long, long time, so a statement like that certainly means something. NFL teams are taking notice and it should result in Paye coming off the board early in April.