DJ Lagway was the brightest spot of Billy Napier’s 2024 Florida Gators. The then true freshman quarterback had to take over starting duties midseason, after Graham Mertz suffered a season-ending injury. The result was a dramatic turnaround for the SEC program, with Lagway starting in seven games and winning six.
HC Billy Napier on QB DJ Lagway: “I was most impressed with how he handled (taking over as the starter). The type of teammate that he was. The humility. The character. And, the guy was phenomenal on gameday… I thought he grew as a leader.”#Gators
— Cam Parker (@camparker25) July 16, 2025
Now he’s set to be a full starter since Week 1, and there’s much hope in Gainesville about where he can lead the Gators in 2025. During the SEC media days on Wednesday, Billy Napier told the press how impressed he was by Lagway’s ability to take over Mertz last year:
“I was most impressed with how he handled (taking over as the starter). The type of teammate that he was. The humility. The character. And, the guy was phenomenal on gameday… I thought he grew as a leader.”
In 2024, Lagway threw for 1915 yards, with 12 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He had an improvable QBR of 57.9, which ranked 69th in the nation. He also rushed for 101 yards in 50 carries, with no touchdowns.
Florida finished the season with a positive 8-5 record, capping the campaign with a Gasparrilla Bowl victory over Tulane.
DJ Lagway is probably Napier’s biggest recruitment achievement with the Gators. Lagway was a five-star prospect who was considered the third-best overall recruit and best quarterback in the class of 2024.
DJ Lagway puts injury rumours to rest; says he’s ready for the 2025 season
Lagway also spoke with the press during the SEC media days. He used his press conference to confront rumours that he might be carrying over an arm injury from spring practice:
“All right, I don’t have a prosthetic arm, just letting you all know that,” he said. “But no, I’m feeling great, training’s been amazing. I’m actually getting better at things, I’m not just trying to get back to throwing the ball, I’ve been working on mechanics that’s going to help my accuracy this year, help my decision-making.”
“I’m going to make more (Throws) of them, for sure,” he said. “I’m excited, I’m ready to go.”
The injury in question comes from his high school days, and he did miss some practices before the start of last season because of it. However, he didn’t miss any games do to it last year. The only games he missed were because of a hamstring issue that took him out of the game against Georgia and the following week’s game.
Lagway also confirmed that he didn’t have any surgery done on his arm during the offseason, and that he’s completely able to do all the throws he did last season.
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