“Once upon a time, they told ‘Stone Cold’ to stop wrestling, He went and got a second opinion and had several more very, very impactful years tacked onto the end of his career“. This was Josh Pate in his recent podcast episode discussing DJ Lagway’s injury. And how he has everything to rise above it. He is, after all, a player who took the Gators out of a hole. And showed them how ‘redemption’ is done. For the 2025 season, his name was written boldly in the air as the main man for the Gators. But injury concerns still loomed large.
We all know the season DJ Lagway had last year. He quickly stepped into Graham Mertz’s shoes when he suffered an injury against Tennessee. And ran havoc on the field for the rest of the season. Lagway started 7 games and won 6 of them with performances out of this world. His leadership and performance in games against Ole Miss and LSU was something that had Florida fans swooning all over him on the internet. However, injury concerns still plagued him as he was carted away against Georgia after an injury. The concerns have now seeped into the 2025 off-season.
J.D. PicKell of On3, in his recent episode, talks about the level of difficulties Florida and Billy Napier is going to face due to Lagway’s injuries. “DJ Lagway probably not going to be uh rocking and rolling a lot this spring if at all. It’s never a good thing when your starting quarterback isn’t able to be at full go during spring practice. You finish the year so hot, Florida had a couple of top 25 wins vibes and is immaculate, and then you get spring practice and it’s kind of like you lose that momentum…You have to wait till fall Camp to talk about what we can do next so that’s the concerning part for me”.
Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier claps his hands at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024 after the Gators defeated the Rebels 24-17 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Well it looks like the case that DJ Lagway would be missing most of the spring practices. Or if he will participate, then it won’t be that intense. This essentially takes away the opportunity to gel in with the new incoming players. Players like the 5-star Vernell Brown (WR), who is the best man on the freshman roster. Or even Dallas Wilson (WR), ranked 8th nationally, and also the lesser touted players like Muizz Tounkara.
Furthermore, the transfer additions like J. Michael Sturdivant (WR), who joined from UCLA Bruins and has 1,667 receiving yards to his name, will also feel the absence of DJ Lagway in the spring practices. There are other QB too in his place like the incoming Harrison Bailey from Louisville Cardinals. But despite him being a senior, he hasn’t yet seen that many snaps and just played 3 games last year. Passing for 227 yards. Then there is Clay Millen who joined last year from Colorado State. But he also lacks the prowess DJ Lagway has, as he didn’t see any snaps last year at Florida.
Billy Napier opens up on DJ Lagway’s return
Well, all that being said, we might see DJ Lagway in the later days of the spring practices. Since head coach Billy Napier hasn’t ruled out the player completely from the spring practice. If he can make some appearances in the spring games then it will still be beneficial for the Gators as he can make the transition when required. His true freshman season, in which he passed and rushed for more than 2,000+ yards and 12 touchdowns, is a testament to that.
Head coach Billy Napier didn’t quite open up on Lagway’s injury while choosing to remain visibly vague. “Our intentions here are to be very smart, I do think he’ll be limited in throwing activities, but he’ll participate in all practices otherwise. We’ve done a lot of homework with the things he went through as a player. But he was an absolute warrior and a great competitor who showed toughness. In general, he will be able to do quite a bit, but there’ll be some limitations“.’
Analysts like Josh Pate have a genuine concern about Lagway’s injury proneness and it is something that he would need to work on in the future at Florida. He is currently recovering from a shoulder injury. That being said, his injuries may be partly due to offensive line issues and Lagway’s inability to dodge and evade sacks. We saw him going through 13 sacks this last season. Florida even finished at the 48th spot nationally in the number of sacks completed by opponents. This is something Billy Napier needs to work on, and he has to better protect his ace QB if he wants the player to remain injury-free.
The post Tensions Mount for Billy Napier as DJ Lagway’s Injury Triggers National Analyst’s Harsh Reality Check appeared first on EssentiallySports.
