Massapequa (NY) Plainedge quarterback Dan Villari committed to Michigan on Wednesday evening. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Buffalo, Kent State, and UMass; he was committed to FCS Fordham at one point.
Villari is listed at 6’4″ and 215 lbs. He claims a 5.01 forty, a 4.34 shuttle, and a 25.7″ vertical. As a senior in 2019, he completed 67/113 passes (59.2%) for 1,306 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 1 interception; he also ran 121 times for 1,522 yards (12.7 yards/catch) and 23 touchdowns.
RATINGS
ESPN: N/A
Rivals: 3-star, 5.5 grade,
247 Sports: 3-star, 85 grade, #40 pro-style QB, #1242 overall
Hit the jump for more.
Villari was unranked until recently when some bigger schools than Fordham started poking around. Michigan was one of them, and the interest came after J.D. Johnson announced his retirement from football due to a medical condition (LINK). Originally, Michigan wanted him as a grayshirt candidate while they sifted through other quarterback prospects, but when C.J. Stroud committed to Ohio State, the Wolverines came through with a full scholarship offer. Villari is nestled right between Toledo commit Gavin Hall and Arkansas State commit Brett Nezat.
Plainedge went 11-0 this year and outscored opponents 478-106. At one point their head coach was suspended for running up the score, which is against the law there, I guess.
I wrote about Villari fairly extensively when he visited Michigan last weekend (LINK).
I want to reiterate what I’ve said multiple times before, and that’s that I think people are underestimating Villari. I think people look at the Fordham commitment, the MAC offers, etc., and they’re not evaluating the film and the athleticism. When I look at Villari, I see Penn State/Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens. Stevens was a 3-star, the #22 dual-threat quarterback, and #647 overall in the 2015 class. For his career he has completed 59.1% of his passes for 1,238 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, along with 816 yards and 11 touchdowns. Are those numbers good? No. Would a replication of those numbers be acceptable when considering Villari was a late-cycle addition due to extenuating circumstances? Yeah, I would say so. If he’s forced into action due to injuries. those numbers wouldn’t be terrible, and you would hope the rest of the team could pick him up. Stevens’s high school highlights:
All that being said, I do not see Villari finishing his college career as a quarterback. I think he will be a tight end, but he could play quarterback, fullback, or linebacker, too. His competitiveness, toughness, and athleticism are admirable and could translate to other spots on the field, too. I have also mentioned before that I like guys with quarterback experience, because quarterbacks are often good communicators and leaders, and they’re usually smart.
Michigan now has 21 signees in the 2020 class, plus J.D. Johnson (medically retired), Micah Mazzccua (possibly not signing with Michigan), Gaige Garcia (preferred walk-on), Nick Patterson (possibly not signing with Michigan), and Villari. Villari is the second commitment from New York in the 2020 class, joining linebacker William Mohan. (UPDATE: Villari has now signed his NLI, meaning Michigan has 22 signees.)
TTB Rating: 69 (ratings explanation)
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Good late pickup under the circumstances. Looks like a really tough kid and, hopefully, a future contributor in some form. Probably won’t be QB but maybe a TE. I hate making the assumption that a big QB can transition to TE easily considering we’ve never seen him catch a FB and he had 1 blocking highlight. A couple nice defensive hits gives me hope on toughness. Regardless, every class needs a QB. I’m not thrilled with the QB group and would love to see a KJ Costello transfer in but odds are probably against that. I don’t have much hope for McCaff and I have never been a fan of Milton so I sure hope I’m wrong but I don’t think UM should ignore transfer options.
For Villari, I agree with a rating in the 60’s. I would have rated him a 68 on the TTB scale.
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So, we can mostly agree that Michigan signed no QB, while ohio sign two blue chips
And this good news, how?
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OSU got them to come to B10 country from Cali & Zona and now that they’re here maybe one of them will transfer to Michigan in 2 years?
Jus tryin to come up with a ‘good news’ answer…………..intjohn
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I missed the “GOOD NEWS!!!” headline. My editor must have snuck it in without my knowledge.
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……..and I just was taking a peek at QB’s for next year and see the Buckeyes have anuther blue chipper commited for ’21.
That gives them FOUR or back ‘down’ to ‘only’ 3 after Fields leaves.
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Kid makes me think of the big physical kid Snyder brought to Kansas State during his second tenure, pretty sure it’s Colin Klein. This guy looks like a better passer.
Although, with regards to his running the football, it doesn’t look like he’s picking on D1 talent at the high school level.
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His rushing numbers are great, and he looks to have decent mobility for being 6’4″ 215, and yes, it looks like he’s a tough athlete with a competitive attitude, which should be a prerequisite for being a football player.
His passing numbers aren’t amazing, film looks like he makes some questionable decision, and he attempted less than 10 passes in most of his games this year.
At this point in the recruiting cycle, with his position flexibility and our need for a quarterback in this class I don’t dislike this pickup. As a pure QB if we took Villari early on in the recruiting process, I would be scratching my head asking why. I would try to change my own mind with false reassurances like Baker Mayfield’s career trajectory or things like that, but deep down I’d still be scratching my head.
I like your TTB ranking if we’re talking a change in position. If that’s for staying at QB I would slot it a bit lower.
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“At this point in the recruiting cycle, with his position flexibility and our need for a quarterback in this class I don’t dislike this pickup.”
I agree here JC we can’t ignore the need for insurance at the QB position. Not crazy about Harbaugh’s recruiting of the position overall or the subsequent work on his QBs getting them game ready, but that really isn’t the issue with Villari. Harbaugh has us one injury away from freekin’ panic and that is on him.
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Sometimes you have to take a flyer on a kid.
I know many are down on Harbaugh right now but I believe his track record of QB development remains strong, dispute a few bumps in recent years.
I think we’re still in good hands for 2020 with McCaffrey and Milton. We’ll see beyond that. In this day and age it can be helpful to have an immediate opening available.
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Michigan’s QB passer efficiency rating since Harbaugh took over:
2015: #2
2016: #3
2017: #12
2018: #2
2019: #6
That’s an average of finishing #5, but that average is really dragged down by the injury-filled 2017 season when Speight, O’Korn, and Peters played hot potato with the football. When Michigan has a consistent starter, the average finish is 3.3.
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My perspective is that Harbaugh has filled QB gaps with transfers. That has worked quite well except for when the starting QB gets hurt.
Rudock was significantly better than he ever played at Iowa by the end of his senior year. I think the same can be said of Patterson even though his season stats look flat and expectations were dramatically higher – starz and all. O’Korn, well, he didn’t have it, though he tried.
2020 may begin a new era where Harbaugh will have to demonstrate development of his own guys. The first recruit (Peters) was a bust by Michigan standards. The second (McCaffrey) is poised to be the starter next if the third guy (Milton) doesn’t beat him out.
We’ll see how that goes.
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On an unrelated note, I was listening to the “In the Trenches” podcast with Jon Jansen, and he was interviewing Jim Harbaugh about NSD. He said Eamonn Dennis could be a “slot receiver or defensive back,” even though you often get upset when I reference someone as a slot receiver. He was also asked why Michigan took so many linebackers in the 2020 class, and he said Michigan always has at least 3 linebackers on the field, even though you often get upset when I refer to the Viper as a linebacker.
This probably won’t stop you from griping about it, but if Jim Harbaugh calls them “slot receivers” and “linebackers,” then I feel okay with my decision to do the same thing.
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Unless of course, Lank is questioning the Coach – GASP
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Oh come off it, Thunder.
Quit being a follow the leader/crowder……..
Get in tune with your inner Philologist & jez dream up your own fukin name for them and let everyone figure out what ur talking about.
U know; A rose by any other name knida thang…….intjohn
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We desperately need either Dylan or Milton to exceed (or for some, meet) expectations
Another season of waiting until November to figure things out will be no bueño
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Joe or McCaffrey would work too.
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Any jimmy or joe, exz & oh that can find and hit open receivers and not turn ther ball over might be helpful.
Know anyone?
(Asking for a team)………intjohn
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