Previously: Last year's profiles. S Makari Paige, S RJ Moten, S Jordan Morant, CB Andre Seldon, CB Darion Green-Warren, CB Eamonn Dennis, VP William "Apache" Mohan, LB Nikhai Hill-Green, LB Kalel Mullings, LB Cornell Wheeler, LB Osman Savage, DE Aaron Lewis, DE Jaylen Harrell, DE Braiden McGregor, DT Kris Jenkins, OL Reece Atteberry, OL Zak Zinter, OL Jeffrey Persi, TE Matthew Hibner, WR Roman Wilson, WR AJ Henning, RB Blake Corum.

Massapequa, NY – 6'4", 225
		24/7	3*, 85 rating #32 PRO, #10 NY
		Rivals	3*, 5.5 rating NR DUAL, #13 NY
		ESPN	3*, 75 rating #45 PRO, #10 NY
		Composite	3*, #1225 overall #42 PRO, #12 NY
		Other Suitors	Buffalo, Kent State, UMass
		YMRMFSPA	Brian Lewerke
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Ace.
Notes	Twitter.
Film
Senior Year:

When JD Johnson was forced to retire from football due to a heart issue, Michigan found itself in a bad spot. These days quarterbacks go off the board earlier than any other position; pickings were slim. Anyone contemplating a flip from a secure situation was also looking down the barrel of a five-star 2021 QB commit. CJ Stroud was a highly rated dual-threat who was still uncommitted, but he went to Ohio State because that's how it works.

Enter Dan Villari, Fordham decommit and the #1225 player in the 24/7 composite. Here's your sleeper starter kit.

Michigan QB Signee Dan Villari Ready To Silence Critics

'Ultimate competitor': Dan Villari's unexpected journey to Michigan and desire to prove doubters wrong

You have now received your sleeper starter kit.

[After THE JUMP: scouting! no, not really]

As you might imagine, Villari scouting is minimal, verging on Dadaist. Steve Wiltfong's sole Villari assertion is that he's "a bit of a project but certainly having traits." The only non-local Rivals take was Mike Farrell saying he's "ranked as a three star because he's a good athlete and could play another position."

What does exist has to be taken in context, as Villari is not exactly going up against the 1984 Chicago Bears out on Long Island. This team appears to be comprised of literal children?

Villari did detonate his opposition appropriately, with 1495 passing yards and 1315 rushing yards on the season. Detailed full-season stats did not come up in my search but through nine games Villari had a 65% completion rate and zero interceptions. He did this despite playing in a league with a weird mercy rule. The violation of that rule was the first step on Villari's path to Michigan:

The way Villari understood it, Harbaugh called after seeing a story about the Plainedge football coach being suspended because of a controversial margin-of-victory rule. Plainedge had beaten a rival school 61-13, which violated a league rule designed to keep teams from running up the score, and the story got some national attention.

“I had five touchdowns in that game,” Villari said. “I guess he saw my name in there.”

Villari also "put the glove on" the opposition's star wide receiver in the Long Island title game, in the evocatively weird words of the Massapequa Observer.

Villari did show at the local Opening regional, which gave Brian Dohn the opportunity to review his performance there once he suddenly became a D-1 recruit:

… pretty accurate. … arm strength was good.  He’s a big, physical kid who can stand in the pocket.  He ran a 5.01 in the 40, which is s not the dual threat that you want.  But if you watch him play, he moves in the pocket. He has got short space quickness to where he’ll be able to avoid somebody and keep his eyes downfield and throw the ball. … big, physical kid. … if he’s in the pocket – he’s going to be hard to bring down.  He’s thick, he’s smart, he makes quick reads.  … has to be a little quicker on some of his throws."

The 5.0 in the 40 means he's not going to McCaffrey anyone but at 6'4" 230, Villari looks extremely comfortable taking contact and powering through it. If he does break through his running ability should remain extant. There is a genre of quarterback that usually ends up at Michigan State or South Carolina; these guys are capable of ripping off 15 yards if you don't contain them and are rugged enough to deal with eight or so carries a game.

Throwing the ball is also sort of important and is more of an open question. This is overheated coach talk but there's some truth in it:

…along with the velocity to fit into tight windows and strength to drive the ball down the field he’s able to change the pace on the ball and put it where his receivers can run after the catch consistently. … [has the] ability to extend plays, work off schedule, and throw from all platforms with velocity and accuracy. His combination of speed, agility, vision, and strength that allows him to turn nothing into something and create explosive plays for the offense.”

Villari does have a number of impressive off-platform throws on his tape. It's not all standing around a clean pocket and hitting wide open receivers. The wind-up seems like an issue, though. Villari has a long-ass delivery that'll make throws a hair late and put more on his ability to read things quickly.

A position shift is possible. Farrell mentioned it above and Dohn asserted he "could see him being a tight end, in-line guy" because "it's the frame, it's some of the athleticism, it's the awareness." This was couched in a lot of swearing up and down that he's a quarterback and will be a quarterback. It has been broached.

Villari's recruitment was limited to some FCS schools until lower-level FBS schools entered the picture late. Michigan was pitching him a grayshirt:

“Coach Harbaugh told me for now he wants me as a preferred walk-on for 1 year and than scholarship for 4 years,” Villari told The Michigan Insider. “But other than that he said they are interested in me. He texted me yesterday. He called my head coach last week.”

It does appear he was of serious interest to Wisconsin, but Wisconsin's perpetually miniscule scholarship numbers—they retain players better than anyone in the country—meant there was not a spot for him. Villari seems like the exact kind of guy they develop into a linebacker who's miserable to play against. Pitt and Syracuse were sniffing around.

Villari is widely reputed to be a program guy:

“I talked to a couple of coaches on Long Island in the past few days and they said that the reputation of Dan is that he’ll watch a ton of tape. He’ll work incredibly hard, and they expect him to continue to make incremental gains.

His QB coach:

“He has the attitude and the effort and the want-to to continually get better and build upon the natural athleticism and arm talent and tools that he’s been given. He’s obviously still a work in progress, but he’s going to work harder than anybody.”

If Villari ends up being a plausible Big Ten quarterback who gets stuck behind a good to great starter and sticks around that would be excellent. Hard to project that these days when any quarterback who gets a hint he might be second on the depth chart leaves for the goddamn moon, but it would be nice. Also get off my lawn.

Etc.: Nope.

Why Brian Lewerke? As mentioned, Villari does have a dual threat aspect that's not based on out-and-out speed but the ability to make a read, slip a tackle, and fall forward. He's likely to have some limitations as a passer once the competition level steps up. MSU's Brian Lewerke is a reasonable version of what Villari might be in college.

People forget this but before the MSU OL kilt him, Lewerke was coming off a reasonably promising sophomore year (6.7 YPA, 20 TD, 7 INT, ~550 rushing yards). He never progressed statistically and dealt with a wide array of injuries; late in his career he was utterly incapable of throwing off schedule because he had no pop in his arm. A non-kilt version of Lewerke may have been pretty decent as a senior. 

Michigan has not had a burly quasi-dual-threat QB in a minute. Joe Milton is in the same category of guys who are sort of mobile for their size but we've barely seen him on the field and Villari is not reputed to have an Uncle Rico arm. 

Guru Reliability: Very low. Close to unscouted, but Dohn had an in-person look.

Variance: High. System shock going from Long Island to Big Ten will be massive and washout is possible. On the upside, guy has the physical ability to exceed expectations.

Ceiling: Moderate. Reasonable to believe he tops out as a gritty runner and somewhat limited passer who can be functional in the Big Ten.

General Excitement Level: Low. I apologize for joining the ranks of the Haters and Doubters.

Projection: Well, he's the third quarterback this year and may well end up on the field whether he's ready or not. If things go about how you'd expect Joe Milton will have a two or three year run as the starter, at which point Villari will be competing against Cade McNamara, JJ McCarthy, and whoever comes in behind him. Everyone believes that'll be McCarthy's job.

Without a massive upset, Villari will then opt to be a long-term backup (having a Kenny Guiton would be a good thing for the program), switch to tight end or fullback, or transfer.