PFF NFL Mock Draft: Kwity Paye #8 overall

Submitted by Laser Wolf on November 5th, 2020 at 9:13 AM

Mike Renner at PFF posted a mock draft with Kwity Paye going #8 overall as his first edge defender off the board. Obviously mock drafts are very tenuous right now but it gives a sense of how Paye's stock has skyrocketed in just a short amount of time.

"8. Los Angeles Chargers - ED Kwity Paye, Michigan

A few more weeks of what we've seen so far and this is your likely EDGE1. Paye has 13 pressures through two games after only registering 37 last season. The 6-foot-4, 272-pounder could set records at the Combine as well - at that point, it's a wrap."

LINK

Kwity Paye

ldevon1

November 5th, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^

You know what, I gave up trying to project NFL QB's. I thought Mayfield was a can't miss, and he hasn't looked great. I thought Haskins was gonna look better, and he isn't currently playing, and I would have never drafted Kyler Murray that early, especially with Josh Rosen on the team. I have figured out, I don't know shit. If Murray can succeed, I would say Fields can, because he is a bigger stronger version of Murray.  

Joined: 09/09/2015

MGoPoints: 36887

buckeyejonross

November 5th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^

i don't disagree that baltimore did not think troy smith was the long term answer, but he started two games as a rookie for them, wasn't "bad, and then was the presumptive starter in 2008 before being derailed by injury in the preseason. he resurfaced in san francisco for a bit, started there for half a season in 2010, and then was dumped by san francisco after harbaugh was hired. imagine him under the qb whisperer himself!

anyway, like i alluded to, justin fields is troy smith 2.0. bigger, stronger, and better. they are similar players. i mean, 2006 heisman winner troy smith was a pass first, run when you have to, spread qb who dominated college football. a completely different player than the 2004 (and 2005) versions. i think troy smith was ultimately derailed by his size (5'11"), and luck, and fields won't have those same issues.

i don't compare fields to haskins, who sucked under pressure, and let his mechanics break down when rushed.

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

MGoStrength

November 5th, 2020 at 1:16 PM ^

troy smtih, who was well on his way to an nfl starting career, even at his height, before contracting tonsillitis in the preseason as the incumbent starter and being wally pipp'd by rookie joe flacco

Did you just blame Troy Smith's brief NFL career on tonsillitis?  Can I blame my average college baseball career on the migraine I got during spring training of my sophomore year?

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

buckeyejonross

November 5th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^

i'm not just pulling this out of thin air. he missed several weeks at the start of 2008, and lost a lot of weight, and it derailed him completely. 

"Right now, I think [Flacco is] all right," Suggs told an Atlanta radio station in October 2008. "But like I said, in the end, Troy should be the starter [because he's] the better man for the job."

he started at the end of 2007. he was in line to start in 2008. unfortunately, a weird injury derailed that, and flacco didn't mess it up. i mean, once you lose your job to a rookie 1st rounder who wins a lot of games, it is hard to get it back. flacco wasn't even good in 2008, but the ravens went 11-5 and lost in the afc title game to the steelers. 2008 flacco had a ypa under 7 and a 14/12 td:int ratio. could smith have done that? why not?

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

MGoStrength

November 5th, 2020 at 2:13 PM ^

i mean, once you lose your job to a rookie 1st rounder who wins a lot of games, it is hard to get it back. flacco wasn't even good in 2008, but the ravens went 11-5 and lost in the afc title game to the steelers. 2008 flacco had a ypa under 7 and a 14/12 td:int ratio. could smith have done that? why not?

C'mon man.  He failed to earn a starting job plain and simple.  That's on Troy, not his tonsillitis.  That's just an excuse.  If he was good he would have overcome that.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

Scarlatina

November 5th, 2020 at 6:59 PM ^

I don’t think that is the implication at all.

He is saying that Troy Smith was set to be the starter of the Ravens team the year that Ray Lewis and that SACKED defense dragged that team to the Super Bowl.

Troy Smith had legitimately beat out Joe Flacco in the offseason and was named the starter.

Knowing what we know now of Joe Flacco’s career and abilities, do you really think Troy Smith wouldn’t have had a comparable record with that Ravens’s defense that season and held onto the job for at least another season?

He isn’t implying that Smith would have been a perennial All-Pro without the tonsillitis, but he’s just stating that the one legitimate shot Troy Smith had at starting for a team was derailed by it.

Joined: 12/22/2011

MGoPoints: 2398

buckeyejonross

November 5th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^

that's not what i said. i think if smith was the baltimore qb in 2008 when their defense dragged them to the afc title game, as he was supposed to be before a random injury, his career plays out entirely different.

is he in the hall of fame? no. could he have done what flacco did in 2008 and 2009? sure. does that change his ability to get a gig beyond that if baltimore has to decide what to do with flacco? of course. this isn't an insane opinion. plenty of qbs stick around for longer than their overall talent level belies based on reputation and circumstance. exhibit 1 is joe flacco! 

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

MGoStrength

November 5th, 2020 at 2:24 PM ^

i think if smith was the baltimore qb in 2008 when their defense dragged them to the afc title game, as he was supposed to be before a random injury, his career plays out entirely different.

From a philosophical standpoint of course it plays out differently.  But, that doesn't necessarily mean it would turn out better.  Any time one things changes, everything afterwards also changes.  You can't assume one things changes in the past while all other things remain the same.  That's a fairy tale to try and think what would have been if one single thing turned out differently, but everything else stayed the same. 

What would have happened if UM doesn't drop the punt against MSU in 2015?  What happens if UM gets the 4th down spot in 2016?  Can we assume JH would now be a regular playoff contender and his entire trajectory would be different?  No, he very well could have turned out even worse.  This sort of mental maneuvering dismisses the fact that the person in question still had many opportunities to overcome this setback and be more successful than they turned out to be.  JH is stuck at 9.5 wins per year because that's what he is, not because he didn't get the spot in 2016.  And, Troy Smith was never a starting QB in the NFL for very long because he doesn't possess the necessary skills to do so.  It's not luck.  Those were just unfortunate situations that these guys were not able to overcome.  But, as time has proven after the fact, there are other reasons they turned out the way the did beyond that one unlucky circumstance.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

mitchewr

November 5th, 2020 at 1:11 PM ^

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

If the scheme isn't working, then that means we're not putting players in a position to be successful. And that means that the players probably won't be very successful. And if the players on defense aren't very successful, then it's probably not a very good defense. 

Joined: 08/29/2016

MGoPoints: 13775

GRWolverine1223

November 5th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^

That's not true. Scheme can significantly impact a players fate. DB has Kwity playing a 3 Man front so he typically has B gap and focused on the run. This impacts his pressure rate and ability to hit/sack the QB. NFL scouts have to figure out if he was a true edge DE, what his production would have been.. 

Joined: 08/08/2019

MGoPoints: 188

uofmfan_13

November 5th, 2020 at 9:40 AM ^

He got dinged up on Saturday I believe.

Overall ppl are acting like Rocky Lombardi didn't make some incredible completions with pressure in his face. A couple times he's dropping back and just throwing a prayer that his receiver does run under for an incredible catch. 

The stubborn scheme was more to blame then anything. Don Brown truly is a one trick pony.

Joined: 01/27/2011

MGoPoints: 2975

MGoStrength

November 5th, 2020 at 10:43 AM ^

I'm not saying we shouldn't have made adjustments and I can't speak to Paye getting banged up.  But, what I can say is Lombardi had plenty of time in the pocket.  Is it the scheme, the 3-man front, Paye being banged up?  I don't know.  But, you'd think the top DE in the draft class should be able to beat an unheralded MSU line to get some pressure and prevent that many deep attempts.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002