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While there’s a mixture of very few sports going on as well as a ramp up to the 2020 college football season, there’s a lot of speculation going on from various reputable sites.
Whether it’s players who could be breakout stars this upcoming season to those who could find themselves drafted early to the NFL in 2021, there are various prognostications that feature the Michigan contingent.
Take The Athletic, who put out Bruce Feldman’s annual ‘athletic freaks’ list on Tuesday. The subscription-based online publication included Wolverines defensive end Kwity Paye — a former three-star recruit from Rhode Island — as its biggest college football freak.
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So when it came time for scouting website Pro Football Focus to put together its list for the 50 best college football players eligible for the 2021 NFL Draft, it was a no-brainer for Paye to make the list.
39. EDGE KWITY PAYE, MICHIGAN
The No. 1 freak on Bruce Feldman’s list, Paye is only scratching the surface of what he could become. With no polished pass-rushing moves to speak of, he still earned a 77.8 pass-rushing grade in 2019.
But he wasn’t even the highest Wolverine included on the list. Nor was he the sole defensive end.
No, that honor went to the ‘salt’ to Paye’s ‘pepper’ on the defensive line in junior Aidan Hutchinson. There’s no telling whether or not Hutchinson — the son of a former Michigan team captain — would depart Ann Arbor with a year of eligibility left on the table, but if he did, PFF notes, he has the talent to contend with the top offensive linemen in the NFL already, based off what he was able to do as a sophomore.
37. EDGE AIDAN HUTCHINSON, MICHIGAN
Hutchinson holds the crown of being the only defender to give Tristan Wirfs fits last season when he racked up seven pressures against Iowa. The rising junior’s versatile body allows him to also kick inside and still produce.
Notably absent from the list are players such as senior wide receiver Nico Collins — who was on The Athletic’s ‘freak’ list — and right tackle Jalen Mayfield — who’s made some early first-round NFL draft projections this offseason.
Regardless, with two players to make PFF’s top 50, Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown and defensive line coach Shaun Nua certainly have some talent to work with when it comes to pressuring quarterbacks.