Former Plainedge football star Dan Villari signs with Rams as undrafted free agent

Dan Villari, a Thorp Award and Long Island championship-winning quarterback at Plainedge High School in 2019, signed with the Rams as a free agent tight end on Saturday after going undrafted this weekend. The 6-4, 243-pound Massapequa resident switched positions during his college career at Syracuse and he now enters the NFL as a versatile player some scouts have compared to Taysom Hill for his ability to catch, run with, and even throw the football

Villari went 23-1 as a starting quarterback at Plainedge and scored six touchdowns in the Long Island championship game in 2019. He went to Michigan but saw little playing time before transferring to Syracuse in 2022. In 2023 he made another switch, this time from quarterback to tight end. That season he scored touchdowns while rushing, receiving and passing and set a Syracuse tight end rushing record with 154 yards against Pitt.

He played through a shoulder injury in 2024 that limited his production.

Last season at Syracuse Villari looked to be having a breakout campaign. He caught 20 passes for 240 yards in the first four games before quarterback Steve Angeli tore an Achilles tendon. Syracuse used three quarterbacks, including freshman walk-on and former Half Hollow Hills West multisport standout Joseph Filardi, to replace Angeli. Villari had only 19 catches for 172 yards in the final eight games. Villari told Newsday in January that the dip in his numbers affected how he was seen.

“I was considered one of the best tight ends in the country during the first four weeks of the season,” he said. “Then my quarterback got hurt and I stopped getting the ball. Now, all of a sudden, they talk about you differently.”

Villari played in the Hula Bowl and Senior Bowl but was not invited to the NFL Combine. He participated in Syracuse’s pro day and visited a number of teams for pre-draft meetings. At his pro day his unofficial time of 7.0 seconds in the three-cone drill was better than any tight end performed at the Combine; he also ran a 4.19 in the shuttle drill.

League evaluators have noted he is still getting used to his relatively new position, his raw techniques can use some refining, and he likely lacks the size for in-line blocking at the pro level, but he brings a competitive fire and energy to the field that coaches appreciate along with the potential for gadget plays.

Playing in the NFL is something Villari said he has been dreaming about since he was six years old.

“It would mean I accomplished what I set out to accomplish since a young age,” he told Newsday. “My whole life has revolved around getting to the NFL and clawing and fighting my way there.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.