After JD Johnson announced in October that a heart condition would end his football career, Michigan had to scramble to unearth a quarterback in the 2020 class. After a late run at top-100 QB CJ Stroud came up short, the coaches turned to Massapequa (NY) Plainedge QB Dan Villari, who announced his commitment this evening after taking an official visit last weekend and adding an offer earlier this afternoon:

“It feels like a dream come true to be going to (Michigan) because I’ve worked and prayed my entire life for this moment,” he said. “This offense fits my skill set because I ran a few similar concepts and made similar reads in high school.”

Villari was initially ticketed for Fordham before leading Plainedge to an undefeated state championship season in which he surpassed 1,000 yards both through the air and on the ground:

On Monday, the senior quarterback had home visits with Michigan and Wisconsin. He also received a scholarship offer from Kent State on Monday. UMass already has offered a scholarship and Rutgers, with coach Greg Schiano beginning his second stint there, also is showing interest.

Listed at 6'4", 215 pounds, Villari has the size and athleticism to work out as a dual-threat quarterback or potentially move positions down the line like current Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Zach Gentry.

GURU RATINGS

Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
3*, 5.5, NR QB	N/A	3*, 85, #40 Pro-QB, #14 NY, #1242 Ovr	N/A

Villari was late to pop up on the radar. 247's first article on him is from last month. Rivals gave him a cursory three-star rating but hasn't put him in their positional rankings or written anything about him. ESPN, typically, doesn't even have a profile page for him.

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

SCOUTING

As you'd suspect, there's not a ton out there on Villari, though we at least have extensive film to watch.

Before Villari's Michigan official, his coach praised his leadership and work ethic before going into a scouting report on his on-field attributes:

“His arm talent, 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.

“His 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's off-platform throws jumped out to me on his senior highlights; his coach isn't just blowing smoke here.

247's Brian Dohn provided a brief evaluation when lodging his Crystal Ball pick:

He is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, and shows an ability to extend plays by sliding in the pocket. He is strong and tough to bring down and has good arm strength.

For a late get at quarterback with an elite QB already committed for 2021, Villari is an intriguing pickup. His senior film shows good athleticism, a strong arm, the ability to change the speed and trajectory of his throws to fit the situation, and an impressive knack for making throws from odd positions while on the move. He's a physical runner for a quarterback with what appears to be plenty of speed to run a functional read-option/RPO attack and he's got some one-cut elusiveness. If he can make the throws in his highlights on a consistent basis, he's got a chance to be a good college quarterback.

Interspersed in Villari's highlights are some punishing hits from the safety position. While I doubt he'd be a safety at Michigan, he's got the athleticism and physicality to potentially move to tight end or linebacker. That versatility could prove valuable if Villari ends up stuck behind some combination of Joe Milton, Cade McNamara, and 2021 five-star commit JJ McCarthy. In a situation where many quarterbacks would look to transfer, he may be more likely to stick around.

OFFERS

The full list on 247: Michigan, UMass, Albany, Buffalo, Central Connecticut State, Fordham, and Kent State. Wisconsin and Rutgers, as mentioned above, showed some interest. This would certainly count as a scouting win if Villari pans out.

HIGH SCHOOL

Villari is the only Plainview prospect in the Rivals database to sign with a D-I school.

STATS

Newsday has full season stats and even a game log. As a senior, Villari completed 67 of 113 attempts (59.2%) for 1,306 yards (11.6 YPA) with 13 touchdowns and only one interception. Given how many clips in Villari's senior highlights cut off right before the ball hits the receivers hands, I get the sense his passing numbers could've been even more impressive without some untimely drops. Villari also rushed for 1,522 yards and 23(!) touchdowns on 121 attempts (12.7 YPC).

FAKE 40 TIME

247 lists verified results from an Opening regional in April that appeared to be using the zero-FAKE radar gun. Villari posted a 5.01 40-yard dash, 4.34 shuttle, and 25.7-inch vertical. Despite his high school rushing production, he may be more Shea Patterson than Dylan McCaffrey.

VIDEO

Senior highlights:

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

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Villari should get his shot at quarterback, most likely after a couple years of McCaffrey at quarterback. That'd mean an open competition with (if all QBs on the roster stick around, which is far from a guarantee) a senior Joe Milton, redshirt junior Cade McNamara, and redshirt freshman JJ McCarthy in 2022, when Villari would probably be a redshirt sophomore. If Milton and/or McNamara leaves, I wouldn't rule out Villari making the two-deep with his arm talent.

Though he'd have to improve on his testing numbers, he could be an interesting fit at tight end or linebacker if he moves on from quarterback.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

It's got a quarterback. The class is mostly wrapped up outside of waiting for four-star CA CB Darion Green-Warren, whose Crystal Ball favors Michigan over USC, and 3.5-star VA OT James Pogorelc, who's also considering Stanford and took officials this month to Michigan and Virginia. Any other commitments would come from late-emerging targets.