Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Kwity Paye Player Profile with Wolverines Wire's Isaiah Hole

Episode Date: May 6, 2021

On today's episode, we begin our yearly player profile series on the Indianapolis Colts' incoming rookie class. Kicking it off, Evan and Wolverines Wire's Isaiah Hole go in-depth on No. 21 overall pick Kwity Paye.Hole provides great insight into what Paye was like for the Wolverines on and off the field as a leader. What were some key moments that stood from Paye's time in Ann Arbor?From Paye's fit in Michigan's defense to how he will be utilized alongside DeForest Buckner in Indianapolis, this is an episode you won't want to miss!Stay tuned as all of the Colts' draft picks will go under the player profile microscope over the next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back into the latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Sattery, joined by Isaiah Holt of Locked On Wolverines. He does some great work over there hosting the daily podcast. He's also a part of Wolverines Wire, covers the Michigan Wolverines.

Isaiah, how are you doing today? I'm doing excellent. How about yourself? Doing great. I really appreciate coming on today on Short Notes because I really want to get your thoughts on Quiddy Pay and his career at Michigan because he's a very divisive prospect, one that either you love Quiddie or you don't, not really a big fan of Quiddie. But from the Michigan perspective, I want to get you on today because Quiddie Paye had,

I think, a very underrated career for the Wolverines, was a team captain this past year for Michigan in a shortened season. Just from covering Paye up close for the last four years, Isaiah, what was Quitty's persona, like his character, his aura like? Well, I'd say even before getting into that, because I want to touch on something that you mentioned, that he's divisive. He's the type of guy that I'm sure a lot of Colts fans are taking a look at him and saying he only had two sacks last year,

played in four games, four tackles for loss. Like, you know, only had two years as a starter. They're probably looking at him and saying that isn't much of anything, right, compared to what you see with a lot of those other guys out there that have had a lot of big production. That's exactly how he was treated as a recruit coming into Michigan. Because he was a three-star prospect coming out of Bishop Hendrick and out of Warwick, Rhode Island.

And being a three-star recruit, a former Boston College guy, he was near the bottom of the rankings in 2017 as far as recruiting was concerned, the types of guys that they were bringing in you have to keep in mind that they had brought brought in five-star donovan people's jones they had brought in five-star aubrey solomon uh they they had all types of guys like that and quiddy pay which was a guy from rhode island which is what the former defensive coordinator don brown was all was seemingly always targeting to try to get all these New England guys where they were leaving out

some of those bigger names that Michigan fans were really hoping to have. But he had a little bit of contribution in his freshman year. He managed to get a sack. He got on the field in a huge game against Penn State under the lights there and everything. And then he came on strong in his sophomore year, He got on the field in a huge game against Penn State under the lights there and everything. And then he came on strong in his sophomore year. And he was right there in the second rotation and became somewhat of a household name as far as that was concerned.

I think you could say with a pretty great deal of certainty at this point, there are no Michigan fans that dislike Quidipe at this point. I mean, the number obviously isn't going to be zero, exactly zero. But at the same time, he is universally loved in Ann Arbor. Definitely a fan favorite. Obviously, he's also a team favorite. That's why he's a team captain. So to answer your question about demeanor and who he is, I mean, I've gotten a chance to know him since he was a recruit, and he's just absolutely incredible. And I'll tell you a little quick story about him that I would not dare say on Michigan media because it would get the sports information department probably on my case.

But I do sideline photography in normal uh on top of beat writing and doing the podcast and all that but uh after the northwestern game in 2018 he had a giant sack on uh quarterback clayton thorson and it was really pivotal and he had uh actually had two sacks in that game and after both of them he did his uh now famous Wakanda Forever salute from Black Panther. And I got pictures of him doing it both times. But one of them was incredible because you had the quarterback laying kind of underneath him. And he was dead center in the camera facing exactly where I was. Kind of somewhat hunched down doing Wakanda Forever with the arms.

And I sent it to him, that picture to him. kind of somewhat hunched down doing Wakanda forever with the arms. And, uh, I, I sent it to him, that picture to him. And I got it. I got a message at like three in the morning from him and I was still up. And his response was,

that is the best picture I have ever seen. Because he, it, it, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, I can't believe you got that you were even taking pictures of me. That's incredible. And that was always his response. In the three years that I got to take pictures of him,

he was always very, almost as if he was surprised that someone actually cared to focus in on on him because he is totally a team player he's always been very very humble and uh i also had the opportunity to hang out with the defensive line when they when the team went to universal studios uh in 2019 when they were in the citrus bowl and uh quitty's the guy that I hung out with. He's the one I wanted to be around, if that says anything about who he is. I mean, he's not just a fan favorite.

He's not just a team favorite. He's also a media favorite. So you're getting someone in Indianapolis who's really just truly an incredible person. I don't think that we can always say that about everyone when it comes to sports because I feel like we don't get to know them well enough to be able to make judgment either way. But I can tell you, Quitty is just incredible. So you're getting a really good one there. That's awesome there. And just looking at athletically, Isaiah, unfortunately, Quitty pulled out of his pro day just because I think it was an injury. I believe he wasn't able to do his

three cone or short shuttle. But that video's circling around the internet for a while now about Quidipe's famous three cone 6-3-7 for a guy his size faster than Tyreek Hills with the official time what kind of a freak athlete is he with Quidipe I mean you saw him obviously up close the last couple years in Ann Arbor this guy seems just like a freak of nature athletically where if the Colts can mold him correctly, he could be a true star in their defense. Yeah, I mean, he was the top guy in the annual athletic freaks in college list by the athletic. Number one, for that reason, Don Brown, former defensive coordinator, used to call him one big muscle and the fact that

a guy that's that big can move that fast it's incredible i think to me if i was quitty i kind of would have been in the same boat because you're really not going to improve on on what everyone kind of knows you can do uh going into uh going into pro day but uh yeah i mean he he's the type of guy that he's i still feel like he's got so much room to grow and that's not even like a a backhanded compliment like it might be for some others right like i i just feel like he was just starting to tap into his ability and i think he's if you if you go back and watch what he was able to do in the four games he was able to play for Michigan, it was really more like three games overall. You saw someone who was really pretty much unstoppable. The problem for him this past year was Don Brown's defense had kind of gotten figured out by the opponents.

But if it hadn't been, then it would have been one of those things where Quitty, I mean, he gained extra attention as it was, but if there was a little bit of an element of surprise like you normally kind of get to some degree, you don't know where the blitz is coming from, you don't know what's happening, Quitty would have just cleaned up. And, I mean, he did in game one against Minnesota as it was. Just they couldn't stop him. They couldn't block him. And I think that you're

going to see that more and more and more as his career goes on, because he's the type of guy that once he figures out what he can do, uh, he can exploit you athletically. And like I said, one big muscle, uh, he's strong, he's fast, he's pretty big. I mean, 261 pounds uh about six three six four he's a big guy so he he's kind of got the whole package i believe he ran like a four five four as well or something like that it wasn't the lowest when it comes to uh to defensive end outside linebacker types but at the same time that's like a that's a wide receiver type number you know like i'm pretty sure that there were several wide receivers taken in this draft that ran slower than that as it was uh so and really that's that's about like a middle linebacker

if you get someone that runs that fast as a middle linebacker you're like all right we're we're really rolling let alone a big defensive end. So he's just got so much athletic ability. And again, I still feel like it's untapped into just because he just was starting to scratch the surface of that capability. So I think that if he is honed a bit, then it's going to be just that much better for him. Hey Colts fans, listen up. Nugenix, the number one selling free testosterone booster at GNC, is offering a complimentary bottle to all football fans in America. To get your complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total, text DRAFT to 231231. This unique man-boosting formula is powered by testophen,

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Going back and watching mission games like you alluded to there, Isaiah, for a moment with Don Brown's defense, Quidi never really had the chance to be just like a pure edge rusher. He was getting moved around defensive line, inside, left side, right side, doing a lot of things for Michigan's defense, obviously with his versatility. But do you feel like in the NFL where the Colts have mentioned now he's going to be in that pure pass rush role on the right side where he's going to be able to pin his ears back every time he'll get the quarterback,

maybe sometimes kick inside? What was Quitty Paye's role like in Michigan's defense? It seemed like it was almost like a Swiss Army knife on their defensive line. Yeah, that was kind of a product of what Don Brown liked to do when he had athletic guys. And he had two of them as far as both of his defensive ends, and Quidipe and Aiden Hutchinson. And then last year they had Mike Dana as well,

who ended up being a – I think it was a fifth-round pick, maybe a sixth-round pick by the Chiefs last year, and he ended up playing quite a bit. So having all of those guys all on one line allowed for a lot of versatility because they really wanted to be able to confuse defenses, and they were able to do it a little bit more with those three guys. But Aiden went out with injury relatively early, just like Quitty did, and that kind of limited what they were able to do with Quitty this year

when he was able to come back for that reason. So it's one of those things where he can do everything. You can line him up inside. Obviously, it's going to be a little bit different in the NFL compared to going up against college interior linemen. But, I mean, you could line him up inside. But I do think he is best suited for either that strict pass rushing role, which there are a lot of times under Don Brown's defense

where he was an anchor, which is a a lot of times under Don Brown's defense where he was an anchor, which is a little bit less of a pass rush and a little bit more of a take on blocks to let the other guy on the other side get there. Now, Aiden Hutchinson was in that role a little bit more than Quitty was, but nonetheless, you could put him outside. can put him uh as an outside linebacker as well we didn't really see that at michigan but he is just kind of the prototypical uh exactly what you want as far as size and speed and all of that type of stuff to be an outside linebacker pass rush type as well uh so really very versatile uh and I think part of it is a product of what Michigan's system was

asking of him so even if we if he didn't seem versatile he definitely showed off that he could be versatile during his time in Ann Arbor. Throughout Pei's career really being a full-time starter over the final three years of his career there. What game stood out to you most from Quiddie Payley where you thought to yourself, whoa, this guy is different. He's going to be a true NFL player, a first-round type of player. I know the Minnesota game from this past year stands out to a lot of people nationally because he kind of broke out on the scene in the second half of that game. Any other games stand out to you, Isaiah, where you kind of just had to do a double-take

of the way Quiddie was playing? Well, I would say it's that Northwestern game I mentioned earlier. The 2018 game on the road at Northwestern, getting two sacks in that game. I think we knew that he had that capability. I don't think that we knew that he was going to be that type of player. You have to keep in mind that

that was a game where Michigan was trailing by a pretty big margin around halftime. And the defense basically shut down what Northwestern was doing in the second half. And I'm pretty sure that both of Pace's sacks came in the second half. I know one of them was right near the end of the game. And I believe he was close to being in on the final tackle that was made.

I might be making something up there, but I'm pretty sure that he was when Josh Uche made the final sack to end the game. I think that Quitty was in the game, if my memory serves, and that he was pretty close. But like I said, I might just be making something up there. Nonetheless, regardless, in that game he like i said he had the two sacks both were super pivotal timing wise and uh it came at a point where they absolutely needed the most that they

could get out of everybody and between he and the patriots josh Uche, those two stepped up at the same time and did the same thing. And Uche was already kind of in heavy rotation. That was the game I feel where Quitty made it known that he was going to be definitely a future starter for Michigan at that point. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Baseball scenes in full swing. You're going to track all the action over at bet online. This week has tons of sports action on the go as well.

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you have to think from the Michigan fan perspective, like seeing Quitty pay land with the Colts is a really fun scenario to see his full potential ceiling because him next to the Forrest Buckner, Isaiah, that's going to be a really fun duo on the left side defensive line. Oh, absolutely. That's, I think, one of the keys is being able to pair him with somebody because he had been with Aiden Hutchinson. Granted, I think Quitty was the star of that show

when it was the two of them together. So we'll see more about Aiden, who's also projected to be a first-round pick this next year. So never can write off the duo reuniting again next year, depending on where the Colts pick. But yeah, I mean, absolutely absolutely I think the bigger takeaway for me is just the fact that he's going to such a great organization. You know, I I'm in Metro Detroit, right? Like whatever, whenever you see a guy like Quiddy Pay, you know,

you hope that you're like, all right, man, be good, but don't be so good that the Lions have an opportunity, you know you hope that you're like all right man be good but don't be so good that the lions have an opportunity you know feel like you're their best option wherever they pick so uh the colts have been long known as as just a quality organization and it's one of those things that when when you really like a guy that you cover like quitty you just hope to see him get the best opportunity and a lot of times that means going to such a place where you know it's going to be run smart, they're going to utilize him well, and those types of things.

So that's kind of how I look at the situation for him. Isaiah, last one here for you, just for the Colton that they're listening. Are there any final points you want to bring up here on the show that really stand out to you just from covering Quitty over the last couple of years? I mean, not much that I can – that I don't think I haven't said already. But, again, the character of the guy is one that I think you'll just fall in love with.

I would recommend definitely anything Black Panther from the movie, the comics and whatever. If that's something you're a fan of as well as the Colts, then let Quitty know that. He loves Black Panther. He seems to love people that embrace the fact that he loves black panther as well uh i know i went to disney in january and uh what is the first as soon as i saw black panther merch uh in the avenger store at disney springs i sent it to him and he's like man now i know i got to get that stuff like i know where i can get that stuff now so uh just such a quality guy such such a fun guy, and obviously just a great story. And I know we've all heard the story about being a refugee. I'm not going to rehash all that, but, I mean, it's hard not to root for a guy like that.

So if you're on the fence as a listener and you don't know whether or not to buy or sell him as a draft pick, I'm telling you he's going to be a fan favorite before you know it. Isaiah, hey, thank you so much for doing this today. Colton is now ready to go ahead and follow Isaiah on Twitter, at Isaiah Hole. He's the publisher of Wolverines Wire over on the USA Today Sports Network, and also the host as well on the Locked On podcast, in order to have Locked On Wolverines.

Isaiah, I appreciate the time today talking about Quidipe. Absolutely. It's my pleasure.