For the second time this week, Michigan has added to their stockpile of safety-types. After adding RJ Moten on Saturday, the Wolverines got a commitment from West Bloomfield (MI) four-star Makari Paige this afternoon.

Loyal To My Soil #Committed 〽️ pic.twitter.com/H9nuw4mbNk

— MAKARI PAIGE ¹ᵏ (@makaripaige) July 30, 2019

Paige, like Moten, visited for last weekend's BBQ at the Big House. He chose Michigan from a final four that also included Ohio State, Penn State, and Kentucky. Paige is the 23rd commit in the 2020 class, which ranks seventh nationally.

GURU RATINGS

Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
4*, 5.8, #18 S, #6 MI	4*, 81, #12 S, #5 MI, #232 Ovr	4*, 91, #23 S, #5 MI, #203 Ovr	4*, #22 S, #6 MI, #243 Ovr

Paige's rankings are in a relatively tight range. While Rivals is the only service to leave him off their overall rankings, he comes in higher in the safety rankings there than on 247, where he gets his highest overall ranking. He's a strong four-star who doesn't quite reach the upper echelon.

Paige measured 6'2.5", 183 pounds at an Opening regional. He's more center-field ballhawk than box thumper.

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]

SCOUTING

Paige has been sought after for a while. He first started picking up offers late in 2017, and Michigan was one of the first to come forward in January 2018. He caught the eye of TMI's Brice Marich at that summer's Best of the Midwest camp with his length and coverage skills:

West Bloomfield (Mich.) 2020 defensive back Makari Paige is already considered one of the state’s best for his class and displayed his elite talent once more. The long and rangy defender constantly stuck with receivers in one on ones and showed good break on the ball as well.

Paige had developed enough early that there was question about his future position. Heading into the 2018 camp season, The Wolverine's Brandon Brown brought up the prospect of playing linebacker—while also mentioning Paige had the coverage chops of a corner:

Sophomore athlete Makari Paige actually picked up his offer in January and might have the highest upside of the entire foursome. The 6-1, 165-pounder excels on both sides of the ball but looks to have more potential as a defensive back. He's quick and fluid enough to play cornerback but may end up at safety or even at outside linebacker like Dixon depending on how he develops physically.

When it came time to release initial 2020 rankings, Rivals Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt named Paige the hardest player to rank in the region because he had difficulty projecting his position:

I'm starting to get worried West Bloomfield, Mich., four-star safety Makari Paige is going to outgrow the position. He's already being listed at 6-foot-4 in some places, but his frame looks narrow and I am just not sure how to measure his future physical growth potential yet. This is a kid we will likely struggle to get a handle on until he is fully grown and filled out.

Paige is closer to 6'2" than 6'4" so this fear may be overblown; Helmholdt finds tweeners to be a sticking point in a way Michigan's coaching staff does not.

Recent performances indicate Paige is doing just fine in the defensive secondary. He earned a spot on 247's CJ Holland's top performer team from this spring's Pylon 7-on-7 for doing the most important thing a safety can do:

A four-star safety, Paige was a commander in the secondary for the Max Ex defense and didn’t let anything get behind him.

Finally, 247's Allen Trieu has seen Paige a number of times throughout his career, and he wrote the free scouting report on Paige's 247 profile. If the "didn't let anything get behind him" quote above gave you a warm, fuzzy feeling of comfort, so should Trieu's player comparison for Paige: Jarrod Wilson, one of the most pleasantly boring, assignment-sound safeties in recent memory.

Tall, rangy prospect. Still looks skinny right now. Carries his weight well and can carry more. Very long limbs. Excellent ball skills and natural athleticism. Center-fielder type who can take away deep parts of the field with his physical attributes as well as instincts. Versatile. Able to come down into the box and is a solid tackler. Also can blitz off the edge and has shown the ability to play man-to-man coverage. Long-legged, so must continue to work on shortening his transitions and can still get faster in a straight line. Has the growth potential to figure into several spots and is versatile enough to play many roles, but true free safety is where we project him. Can be a multi-year starter on the Power 5 level and has the attributes to play beyond college.

If Paige can be Jarrod Wilson with plus ball skills, he'll be a multi-year starter and a good one.

OFFERS

As mentioned above, Paige has Ohio State, Penn State, and Kentucky in his final group. He also has a strong offer list for a player who mostly focused on his region. Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Arizona, Arizona State, Boston College, Iowa, Iowa State, Louisville, Maryland, Mizzou, Nebraska, Northwestern, Pitt, Syracuse, Washington State, and West Virginia were among his other offers.

HIGH SCHOOL

West Bloomfield has become a reliable talent-producer with former Michigan wideout Ron Bellamy at the helm. They've produced a number of Big Ten players in the last handful of classes, most notably four-star MSU WR Trishton Jackson, and linebacker Cornell Wheeler is also a member of Michigan's 2020 class.

STATS

None I could find beyond the 105 tackles listed at the beginning of his senior video.

FAKE 40 TIME

It doesn't appear Paige ran the 40 at his Opening regional appearance. He has a decent shuttle time of 4.38 seconds.

VIDEO

Junior highlights:

Sophomore highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Paige appears ticketed for free safety, both based on his scouting and how he compares to the other safety-types in the class, Jordan Morant, RJ Moten, and William Mohan—shorter players who project better to playing in the box. While Don Brown has been moving in the direction of interchangeable safeties for a while, this could be a sign that he plans to maintain a distinction; it's also possible he just believes players of different shapes/sizes can fill similar roles.

The safety spot next to Daxton Hill is going to be wide open following this season when Josh Metellus graduates. The coaches probably don't want another true freshman starting at safety, but Paige could at least be in the conversation in what should be a competition involving several players.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan is almost certainly done with safeties. They can now focus on touching up a class that is approaching its maximum capacity; they could still use help at outside receiver, defensive tackle, and cornerback.