Michigan Football Star Kwity Paye Moving On To Prep For 2021 NFL Draft
Senior defensive end Kwity Paye is officially done as a Michigan Wolverines football player, as he'll train with EXOS Sports Performance in preparation for the 2021 NFL Draft now that U-M's season is officially over. Senior and fifth-year senior student athletes are allowed to return for one more year, with the NCAA deeming the 2020 season a free year for eligibility.
Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, while Paye was draft eligible as a junior, he decided to return to Ann Arbor, stating that getting his degree and having one last opportunity to compete on the field for U-M as the reasons why. He stuck around even when the Big Ten season was canceled and held out hope that the decision would be reversed, which it was.
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"I came back for a reason. I didn’t come back just to say I was coming back," Paye said before the 2020 campaign. "... I wanted to graduate, I wanted to play a season, and that’s exactly what I did. Once I have my heart set on something, I want to see it through."
This year, Paye totaled 16 stops, including four tackles for loss, and two sacks in four games. He injured his lower leg against Indiana and was forced to miss the next two contests before returning against Penn State, the game that wound up being U-M's final one of the slate.
In 38 career games at U-M, Paye racked up 100 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He was U-M's top defender, according to PFF grades, and posted an elite pass rush grade of 87.1 while pressuring the quarterback 22 times in his four appearances.
The Rhode Island native was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree (second team, media, 2020; second team, coaches, 2019; third team, media, 2019; honorable mention, media, 2018). He is projected to go high in next spring's draft, with PFF being one of several outlets predicting him to go in the first round.
As of now, Paye is one of three Wolverine seniors or fifth-year seniors to have public intentions of moving on from U-M, joining fifth-year punter Will Hart, who entered the transfer portal this week, and fifth-year wide receiver Nate Schoenle, who signed off with a heartfelt farewell post on Instagram.
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