Colts defensive end Kwity Paye on Tuesday was named to the Pro Football Writers of America's All-Rookie team, joining New England's Christian Barmore, Baltimore's Odafe Oweh and Miami's Jaelan Phillips as the rookie defensive linemen recognized by the league's writers.
Paye, the 21st pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, finished his rookie season with four sacks and 39 total pressures. He added 10 quarterback hits, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and three tackles for a loss over 15 games.
Paye came on especially strong in the second half of the season, with all four of his sacks coming in Weeks 9-18.
"You could see where he was really working his pass rush and understood how to come back underneath because he's a guy that can get the corner with his quickness and his speed, then he's able to now recognize when he's getting to the top part of the quarterback," defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said. "Now he can work back underneath. That's when I really started to see that. Maybe around the Buffalo game I want to say, maybe a little bit before that. He's certainly coming on and doing a good job of pressuring the quarterback and continuing to improve."
On Monday, Jonathan Taylor was named to the PFWA All-NFL team while Taylor, Darius Leonard and Quenton Nelson were named to the PFWA All-AFC team.
