Michigan Football: Makari Paige is pushing for early playing time

How can Michigan football afford to move Daxton Hill to corner? The emergence of true freshman Makari Paige is one reason why.

There has been a ton of buzz coming out of Michigan football camp about sophomore defensive back Daxton Hill, who is a former five-star recruit.

Hill earned his way on the field and by the end of last season, he became a full-fledged starter, even though he was still working his way through some growing pains.

According to defensive coordinator Don Brown, some of his struggles had to do with trying to understand the defense. Now, as Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider writes ($), that’s not an issue.

While Hill should be better prepared or the role of centerfielder, Brown recently said that he could be the best cover guy in the Big Ten, which makes you think he could see more time at corner, even if its just back at the nickel spot.

But in order for that to work, you have to believe in the next guy up at safety and there have been some positive developments there.

New faces on the depth chart?

Obviously, Brad Hawkins is very solid. He will be back and Sammy Faustin has been turning heads too. But Brown raved about true freshman Makari Paige. Here’s what he said last week: 

"“I’ll give you a name that I’m kind of excited about… this Makari Paige is playing at a high level. And he’s a young man that we feel he can jump in there and help us at early stages, for sure.”"

Paige is a 6-foot-3 freshman who also has stellar cover skills and it sounds like he is squarely in the mix for the No. 3 safety job, which could be key is Hill plays more at corner.

Webb also caught up ($) with Paige’s former high school coach, Ronald Bellamy and here’s what he said:

"“Makari does have some experience in the defense considering that we run a lot of same concepts that Michigan runs. So, he has familiarity with both the free safety and the rover spot. I go back all the way to his sophomore year in the state semifinal game against a loaded Cass Tech team. He caught the game sealing interception when he was covering the slot receiver.”"

Versatility is the name of the game anymore and Michigan football desperately has needed more athletes in the secondary. While much of the focus in the secondary has been on other freshman such as Darion Green-Warren or Andre Seldon, Paige could make the biggest impact, at least early.

There is still 18 days until the first game at Minnesota, so a lot can change, but Paige looks like one freshman who won’t hang onto his redshirt this season.