Why Aidan Hutchinson And Kwity Paye Are Such A Dynamic Duo

Last season, Kwity Paye came up with the nickname "Salt and Pepper" for the duo made up of himself and fellow defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. Each proved to be one of the top defensive linemen in the Big Ten last season.

"I am a darker complexion, and he's white, so you know, you need salt and pepper to eat," Paye said last season, with a smile on his face.

Paye notched 50 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks a year ago, while Hutchinson posted 68 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks on the year.

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The two aren't just both productive players that happen to play on the opposite side of the ball from each other, they're the perfect complement to each other's game.

"If you can have two guys who are rushing [at a high level], the quarterback really has nowhere to go," said former U-M All-Big Ten defensive end Craig Roh, who now plays in the CFL and does defensive line film breakdowns.

Roh even compared Hutchinson and Paye to college football's version of former Colts ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, in the sense that their styles, meshed together, give the Wolverines to have one of the better end duos in the game.

"You can actually play a lot of games, as well," Roh said. "One guy goes under, the other guy goes over and kind of flushes the quarterback out.

"I think they’re really complementary of each other. Kwity Paye is more of a speedster, speed rush sort of guy, going to get that edge. You have Hutchinson who’s a long, lanky, strong guy. And, you combine those complementary skills, what happens is you naturally flush out the quarterback."

Simply put, Hutchinson and Paye cause problems for opposing quarterbacks.

"If you have one guy power rushing, and the other guy speed rushing, either the speed rusher is going to win and the quarterback steps right up into the power rush, or you power rush so well that the quarterback now has to vertically go back more in their setup," Roh said. "And now, you have the speed rusher able to get the strip sack backside. When you have a great tandem like that — one that likes to come under more, power rushing more, and one who typically likes speed rushing more — you get this really nice distribution of rush lanes on the sides of the rush. That’s really the whole deal."

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