CFB insider sets clear expectations for DJ Lagway ahead of Florida’s tough 2025 schedule

DJ Lagway was the brightest spot in the Florida Gators roster last season. After taking over starting duties from an injured Graham Mertz midseason, the then true freshman signal caller led the program to a 6-1 record over seven starts and a bowl victory over Tulane.

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It's easy to see how, coming into the 2025 season, Gators fans are hopeful for what could be a competitive season. On3's J.D. PicKell seems to think there are valid reasons for them to have high hopes, with the analyst saying on Thursday that Lagway is built for Florida's play style.

"There's no part of the field DJ Lagway cannot throw the football to," PicKell said. "So as a defense, you got to honor that. ... Yes, he can do all of those things. There's no, to me at least, watching this guy last year, limit to the arm strength or the kind of throws he can make off of platform. ...

"He's almost like built for chaos with his game, which is a weird way to say it. The play's never really dead with him. He can throw it on the run, he can throw it fading away, he can throw it while being tackled. He's great when situations are imperfect."

PicKell added that an inability to perform when things haven't gone according to plan has been holding the Florida Gators back over the last few seasons. With Lagway, he seems to believe they can overcome that.

Josh Pate believes DJ Lagway is the best quarterback in the SEC

Another high-profile college football analyst believes DJ Lagway has a great season ahead of him. It's none other than CBS Sports' Josh Pate, who shared his power rankings for Southeastern Conference quarterbacks on Tuesday. Surprisingly, he put DJ Lagway at the top of the list.

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Some might be surprised to find Lagway above already settled SEC starters like South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers or LSU's Garrett Nussmeier or incoming veterans from other conferences like Oklahoma's John Mateer. However, most surprisingly of all for the general public is to find Texas' Arch Manning in the second spot of the rankings.

Manning is the favorite to win this year's Heisman Trophy and is expected to be the best quarterback in the SEC, if not all of college football.

About the author

Andres is an analyst who has reported on college basketball and college football at Sportskeeda since 2023. Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in law from Universidad Metropolitana in Venezuela, and has minor in International Relations. Andres holds a college certificate in Sports Entities Management from Unisport Management School in Spain. He is also an alumnus of the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management by FIFA and Universidad Metropolitana, and has been accepted into the Harvard CORe online program for which he was awarded a grant.

Given his background in sports management, law and business, Andres loves any chance to jump into the industry side of things and explain what's happening behind the curtain. He takes care when it comes to separating the wheat from the chaff and ensures he refers only to appropriate and respected sources.

His favorite college team is the Arkansas Razorbacks. While Troy Aikman and Joe Montana are two of his most favorite QBs, he is also an admirer of Joe Burrow's style and is rooting for Riley Leonard to do well.

Andres is an avid reader, likes adventure sports, dabbles in rock climbing, and is also a scuba diver. He is also an enthusiastic gamer, especially when it comes to strategy PC titles and loves his fair share of Halo.

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Edited by Ribin Peter