ATLANTA — Florida sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway went 6-1 as a starter for the Gators, including a four-game winning streak to end the season.
That finish included wins over No. 21 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss and transformed the narrative around the Gators.
Lagway’s return as the clear-cut starter has changed the trajectory and expectations for Florida football in 2025. Lagway was the No. 1-rated dual-threat quarterback for the 2024 recruiting class and lived up to his billing with a freshman All-American season.
“It’s his team,” Florida coach Billy Napier told ESPN on Wednesday. “I think he’s growing as a leader, his voice as a leader, how he can affect the other players. Last year at this time, he had no clue what he was in for. I think that he obviously knows the system. He knows how to prepare. He can get better. I mean, this guy’s got a lot of ceiling here.”
Lagway said he’s fully healed after not throwing in spring practice because of a shoulder injury. He also missed part of the Georgia game and the entire Texas game last season because of a hamstring injury.
Lagway said he’s ready to maximize that ceiling, with a focus on details. That includes improved nutrition, which meant cutting out Insomnia cookies (chocolate chip were his favorite). He also had a sauna installed at his home near campus and set up an intricate film projector similar to the ones he saw in the homes of NFL quarterbacks Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins on the “Quarterback” series on Netflix.
“I just love the game,” he said. “Eat, sleep and breathe. That’s all I do. Anything I could find that helped me get better at the game, that’s what I do.”
Lagway is 6-foot-3, 240 pounds and brings a dangerous element in the quarterback run game. After the hamstring injury last year, Florida was conservative in using him in designed run plays. That could change, as Napier pointed out Lagway ran the ball nine times for 42 yards against Kentucky before the injury.
For the season, he finished with just 101 rushing yards and no rushing touchdowns.
“He’s hard to tackle,” Napier said. “I think in the pocket, he’s tough to get down. I think that’s one of the things that’s unique about him.”
Florida returns four starters on the offensive line and a bruising and productive tailback in Jadan Baugh, who averaged 5.1 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns last year. The Gators also return seven starters on what Napier calls the best roster of his four seasons in Gainesville.
Florida is coming off an 8-5 season and faces another tough schedule, but Napier said he’s confident the Gators can beat anyone they play.
“The best thing about it is when I look around the team meeting right now, I know every kid in the room,” he said. “I know their parents. I know I’ve been to their school or their home. They’ve been in our program for multiple years. We don’t have a lot of riffraff. We don’t have a lot of distractions.”
How much the Gators improve will be tied to the trajectory of Lagway, and Napier is bullish on his long-term potential. There’s a strong case that Lagway develops into a top prospect in the 2027 NFL draft, as he has the physical tangibles and has flashed arm talent and anticipation in the pass game.
“He’s got talent, and then all these areas that are unlimited in terms of improvement,” Napier said. “There’s room for him to go to work and get better. And that’s the thing that I think about him — he is consumed with getting better.”
