[David Nasternak/MGoBlog]

Our intrepid scout/MGoUtilityMan David Nasternak made the trek to what might as well have been South Bend to take in Michigan commit Phil Paea’s serial tiny-right-tackle crunching. Paea’s an interesting prospect because he’s incredibly raw, yet somehow he passes the “could this guy play in college” eye test; he moves well and gives sideline-to-sideline effort, and when he stays low he moves the opposition. His Berrien Springs squad had to go to overtime to beat Buchanan, so we were able to get a fair amount of Paea film, which you can use to answer the burning question: 3-tech, SDE, or both?

[After THE JUMP: Phil Paea film and scouting report]

Highlight Film:

2017 DT Phil Paea (M commit)

Michigan seems to want Paea on defense to begin his career, which means he’ll be most likely dabble at 3-tech and at SDE (Anchor) to start his career. He’s certainly got the size to play inside; 247 has him listed at 6’4” and 287 pounds. He’ll need to continue to get stronger, even though his strength is what first pops out on film. The caveat here is two-fold: he’s playing against schools whose enrollments are in the neighborhood of 500 kids, and I don’t think he’ll often find himself in a situation where the offensive tackle/guard he’s going against is two yards off the line of scrimmage while he’s one yard off. He had a full head of steam within a couple of steps and was essentially a runaway freight train (watch starting at 00:08), though there were some instances where he was able to move the opposition in closer quarters.

Another key piece of Paea’s game is his motor. He never takes a play off, and he’s always looking for the ball. This is seen in microcosm as 00:34, where Paea gets off a block and hustles downfield to get in on the QB takedown. He also fights through blocks; at 2:05 he does exactly what an SDE should do, crushing a TE back and getting further inside to help make the tackle. He again gets off a block and makes the tackle 0at 2:17, which is pretty impressive considering the tackle has him almost completely blocked down before Paea escapes.

In terms of technique, Paea will have a lot of work to do when he gets to Michigan. This is his first season as a full-time defensive player, so it’s understandable that this is a work in progress. Still, he has a tendency to stand up that isn’t helped by being tasked with making a three-yard pre-contact sprint every play. Paea was knocked back almost every time he was double-teamed (00:45 for one) and a lot of that seemed to be the result of poor leverage more so than lack of strength. He also needs to continue to develop his on-field awareness. I wouldn’t say that it’s downright bad, but there are times where a run gets past him that could have been stopped if he had sniffed it out a half-second sooner. Relatedly, he crashes hard on a read option at 1:46, allowing the quarterback to pull it and take off.

Ace is going to cringe when he reads this, but Paea is at the point in his career where he’s still showing flashes of potential. For example, he slides inside to nose and is stymied by a double team (00:54), and then a player later (1:01) puts a right tackle on skates, elevates, and deflects a pass. Perhaps his most impressive play of the night starts at 3:00, wherein he does start off high but gets great movement on the tackle as he gets low a split-second before making contact, gets off the block, locks up the guard who decided to help double Paea, and uses the guard’s momentum against him.

Paea clearly has talent, but he’s not on par with some of the other players Michigan has been after. He could turn into a contributor for Michigan down the road, but he has the look of a player who would benefit from a redshirt. He goes as hard as possible and uses that and his athleticism to his advantage, and though he needs to develop pass-rush moves I think he’ll fare better at SDE to begin his career. He may not have a Hurst-like burst off the line, but he moves very well for a big dude and with some coaching should be able to stay in his lane to stop the run and string plays out to his help when needed.