The 2021 first-round pick for the Indianapolis Colts, Kwity Paye, is ready to reach another level on the field during his second season.
Around this time last year, the Indianapolis Colts selected defensive end, Kwity Paye, in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Paye became a starter for Indianapolis and had a pretty good rookie season.
He played in 15 games and recorded four sacks, 32 tackles, three for a loss, 10 quarterback hits, and one forced fumble. Paye was also selected to the PFWA All-Rookie team.
While this was a promising start for his career, there are a lot of expectations for Paye to step things up as he returns with a season under his belt.
Paye is aware of those expectations and he has been working this offseason to make sure he can deliver. In a recent press conference, Paye expressed that he’s been focused on “savagery” all offseason so that he has the right mindset to be a relentless force next year.
Colts DE Kwity Paye here at offseason workouts says he's excited about the new alignment he'll be playing under new coordinator Gus Bradley. He'll be playing a '9 technique' which means he'll be playing from a wider angle. He expects this system to truly be an "attacking front."
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) April 20, 2022
Kwity Paye focused on being a savage for the Colts
Paye admitted that he struggled some in year one from a mental aspect and that’s why he’s been focused on improving his mindset this offseason.
He stated, “I feel like I’ve always been a good technical player, but when it comes down to straining and diving every play, being relentless every play, savagery, that’s what I wanted to focus on.”
That seems like Paye is training his mind and body to be a high-motor player that goes hard every snap, and that is certainly something Indy’s defensive line can use.
Pairing that mentality with a developing skillset should make Paye a force for the Colts. Additionally, his skill set should also improve since he now gets to learn firsthand from Yannick Ngakoue.
Fittingly, Paye pointed out that he’s been learning from Ngakoue from afar. He spent a lot of time in college watching Ngakoue’s film, saying, “If you were to go back and look at my interviews in the past when I was coming out of college, and people asked me who I was watching, I would say Yannick.”
Now, he has the opportunity to learn from his teammate as the two lineup opposite each other on the defensive line. As Paye puts it, they will be tasked with bringing savagery and a consistent pass rush to a defensive line that has struggled in the past couple of seasons.
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