Name: Makari Paige
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 208 lbs.
High school: West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield
Position: Safety
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Paige #38 and said he would be a backup safety and special teamer (LINK). He started five games and made 41 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, and 1 quarterback hurry.
TTB Rating: 79
Paige had an uphill climb to play safety last year. Not only was fellow safety Rod Moore a fixture in the starting lineup, but R.J. Moten also had played significant time and began the year as Michigan's strong safety. Paige played quite a bit in 2020, but he disappeared a little bit in 2021.
But that uphill climb? Paige climbed it. He started five of the games down the stretch, including against Purdue in the Big Ten championship game. Perhaps his most noteworthy play was the tipped, juggling interception he notched against Ohio State in the waning moments of last season's 45-23 win. Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud tried to float the ball in to a fairly well covered tight end in Cade Stover, and Stover's leaping attempt tipped the ball in the air, leaving it to be corralled by Paige. It snuffed out any hopes Ohio State had of coming back against the Wolverines.
This year Moten saw the writing on the wall and transferred to Florida, even though it looks like he'll be a backup this year for the Gators. That leaves Moore and Paige as the seemingly unquestioned leaders to start at safety, with guys like Quinten Johnson, Zeke Berry, and Keon Sabb backing them up. Johnson is experienced and both Berry and Sabb come with some excitement about their athleticism, so it's a fairly solid situation for the Wolverines. Paige added about eight pounds in the off-season and should be ready to be a little more physical, even though physicality has never really been a problem. He should have a good season and could get drafted after the year if he chooses to leave.
Prediction: Starting strong safety; 60 tackles, 1 interception
Good climb. I remember him earning snaps during that God awful season
ReplyDelete"earning" might be generous but it was a promising start for his career
DeleteI have Paige in the top 10 most important players (#9). Let me argue the case.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing - he's really good. All conference honorable mention in a loaded year for big ten secondary, despite being a part-time starter. Always physically gifted, he seemed to put it together in year 3. Ascended to pass over Moten - who himself is a very good player and from everything I've seen is expected to start at UF - seems like a major accomplishment. PFF had him in the top 10 grade for returning safeties - nationally. As a senior he should be one of the top 3 or 4 safeties in the conference and that assumes he's behind Rod Moore. In other words he should be in the conversation for first team all conference, though 2nd team is more likely given Moore and Minnesota's Tyler Nubin.
Secondly, he's very important. While it's true that safety isn't the most important position in the world, it is one that determines the number of big plays the defense gives up fairly often. It's also one that you need at least 3 guys to get through on the season. We saw this come to be a problem against TCU when Moten was oddly absent from the safety rotation and Quinten Johnson's insertion proved disastrous.* Michigan's 3rd guy options this year are either entirely unproven (Sabb/Berry) or highly questionable (Q. Johnson).
*MgoSeth blamed Johnson (at least in part) for giving up a TD against TCU and mentioned it wasn't his first major error, despite limited playing time. He also mentioned the "demand for savvy vets" at the position.
https://mgoblog.com/content/neck-sharpies-blown-coverage
Paige is now just that - a savvy vet - and a physically gifted one at that. As with Moore (who I put #3 overall), there is nobody with even a whisper of pushing him. We just hope that someone out of Sabb/Berry/Johnson can step up to be the 3rd guy. At other positions there's a pretty obvious replacement that we can plug in and feel good about. At safety, it's pure projection and hope.
In other words, the safety situation is like RB - we have 2 very good proven starters and uncertainty after that. The difference is that we play 2 safeties (sometimes 3) but only 1 RB.