jd johnson

Michigan took a hit to the quarterback room this morning. Rivals is reporting, and MLive has confirmed, that Dan Villari is in the portal:

2020 3-star QB Dan Villari entered the transfer portal after playing in four games during his time with Michigan @MaizeBlueReview https://t.co/VT7Ql3kCdP

— NCAA Transfer Portal (@RivalsPortal) January 6, 2022

Villari was Michigan’s late pickup when their 2020 quarterback JD Johnson had to medically retire, and the Wolverines couldn’t one-up Ohio State in the late pursuit of CJ Stroud. Johnson, by the way, still joined the program on a medical scholarship, and is also in the portal after getting cleared by a cardiologist in Cleveland to come back to football.

As for Villari, Michigan mostly used him in blowout situations to run zone reads, but he was easy to root for, and might have had a role as a QB/tank. He did get a redshirt this season so he will still have four years to play wherever he goes. He would have won.

Michigan lost their first verbal commitment of the 2020 cycle, and it was a big one. Four-star OH WR Kalil Branham tweeted that he was decommiting, somehow managing to fit it within Twitter’s character limit and eschewing the Notes app. 247’s Steve Lorenz wrote a quick piece in the wake of Branham decommitting in which he notes that Branham committed to Pep Hamilton and his primary recruiter was Al Washington (who, according to 247’s player profile, had been pursuing him since he was at Cincinnati) and, uh, those guys no longer have offices in Schembechler Hall.

The staff may be close to adding a verbal from a skill-position player, though. Lorenz did some digging in the wake of MD RB Blake Corum tweeting that he’s close to a decision and came back with his crystal ball still solidly on Michigan. Corum has been one of Michigan’s top targets for some time, and should he pick Michigan he won’t be going there alone; fellow St. Frances Academy four-star OLB Osman Savage and three-star OT Micah Mazzccua are a current teammates. When exactly said decision will go public isn’t clear, but Lorenz closed his post by saying it could be in the very near future.

Lorenz also added a crystal ball for NY ATH William Mohan. He unofficially visited earlier this month, and Lorenz reports that he’s a take as a Viper. The three-star is currently ranked #415 in the composite and is the #4 player in New York. The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown spoke with Mohan, who said that the intensity with which Michigan is recruiting him is a 10/10. He said OSU, PSU, Pitt, and Rutgers are also recruiting him hard, but noted that his interest in Michigan is a 10/10. Mohan then told Brown that he’s going to be back for an official visit. Fun fact, per 247’s player page: his nickname is ‘Apache.’ If this makes you think of Traverse City and now you’re hungry then we’re on the exact same page.

A long-time top target made his first visit to Ann Arbor at the end of last week and liked it enough that he told 247's Steve Wiltfong he'll be back for an official. NJ S Jordan Morant spent Thursday on campus and told Wiltfong he was impressed by the facilities and academic opportunity (and support) Michigan offers, and he added that his favorite thing about Michigan is having coaches Partridge and Campanile on staff due to the level of comfort that provides with them both being from New Jersey. 247's Steve Lorenz wrote that he was waiting to see whether the staff would mention playing with Daxton Hill to Morant; on Thursday Morant tweeted at Hill "this the move?", so I think it's safe to assume we know who was discussed that day. One thing that's interesting is Morant's ranking. He's #112 overall and the #8 safety in the composite, but 247 has him significantly higher at #43 overall and the nation's top safety. I watched his junior highlight film and his speed, athleticism, explosion, and change of direction lead me to believe 247's ranking is about where he should be.

[More big visits and crystal balls after THE JUMP]

Michigan football is no stranger to landing commitments from under-the-radar recruits early and watching them rocket up the rankings (see: Charbonnet, Zach), and it appears they have another excellent candidate to do just that in 2020 AZ QB JD Johnson. Oklahoma signee Spencer Rattler, a five-star prospect ranked #23 overall in the composite, started ahead of Johnson at Pinnacle HS until Rattler was ruled ineligible for the remainder of the season in late October after violating the school district’s code of conduct policy. Johnson turned heads in his final four games under center as he led Pinnacle to Arizona’s 6A semifinals before losing to Perry. His performance garnered praise from writers such as 247’s Blair Angulo, who said that “…there's no question that Johnson was set to see his stock rise considerably this coming spring evaluation period so it was good for the Wolverines to get Johnson up to campus for a visit shortly after extending the scholarship offer and locking him down.”

Thanks to the wealth of broadcasts on Pinnacle football’s website, we can get in on the ground floor. I decided to cut up Pinnacle’s 6A quarterfinal win over Red Mountain for one exceedingly simple reason: at #12 in the state and #728 nationally, they were the highest-ranked team Johnson started against. He was a big reason Pinnacle won, too, completing 17 of 27 attempts for 354 yards (13.1 YPA) and two touchdowns. He also ran seven times for a non-sack-adjusted 28 yards, with a long of 12.

[Hit THE JUMP for film and the scouting report]