Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway has been limited throughout spring camp while nursing a shoulder and an undisclosed lower body injury. Lagway took a few reps in Florida’s spring scrimmage on Tuesday, but did not throw the football, a reoccurring theme throughout spring practice.
While Lagway may dress out for Florida’s spring game and even participate in a limited capacity, it’s not expected he throws a football at the annual Orange and Blue game on April 12th.
“He’ll do the same things he’s been doing in practice every day,” Napier said on Lagway’s involvement in the spring game.
Injuries can often times provide a player with a different perspective of the game. Taking mental reps while learning different parts of the offense and defense can be extremely valuable. Lagway has been as involved with the Gators as you can be without throwing the football.
“DJ is such a unique person because he’s so talented, but at the same time, he may be the hungriest football player I’ve ever coached. Guy just has a passion to learn and try to be the best. So he’s taken on every single part of the offense now,” Gators quarterback coach Ryan O’Hara told the media.
Lagway has called plays in seven-on-seven periods this spring in an effort to keep him involved and learning. He’s also spent time directly behind the offense with coach Napier and coach O’Hara, gaining a better understanding of the intent behind each play, rather than the play call itself.
“Last year was like, ‘We got to get you to learn the system and the offense and the shifts and the motions and the run checks, and oh, by the way, what’s the defense doing?’ Which is really hard to figure out in the SEC. But now he’s starting to take that next step in terms of learning the intent behind the play. ‘What are we trying to accomplish with this? What are the problems?’ What pressure can hurt us? What’s the coverage where this concept doesn’t work out?’ And that’s where I think he’s really taking the next step,” O’Hara said on Lagway’s growth this spring. “He’s starting to become that coach on the field. Whereas last year, he made a lot of plays and he kind of knew what was going on, and his instincts are so pure that he can make it happen. But now he’s becoming really dialed in.”
One area of weakness for Lagway last year was coverage recognition, which is not uncommon for a true freshman quarterback in the SEC. While Lagway thrived on a ‘first read and go’ style offense, he struggled when it came to progressing through his reads and hitting the underneath routes. Lagway has improved in multiple areas after rewatching the film postseason and taking mental reps behind the offense this spring.
“We have the whole month of January to sit back and look at, alright, here’s every four bracket coverage versus this concept. Here’s cover 3, here’s cover 5, and now he can look at how all these things work out. And talking about building that file cabinet and that rolodex of all these plays versus these coverages, that’s where he’s really improving. He’s understanding the intent behind the play, the problems, and now he understands how to attack the weakness of the coverage and stay away from the strength,” O’Hara said. “He forced a couple balls there last year where he’s not gonna make that mistake again this year. He’ll improve there. He’ll run that ball, he’ll scramble, he’ll create, he’ll extend. And he is getting a lot better there. And especially, he’s had to take a few reps behind. Now he’s sitting back there and he’s seeing it. He knows where the ball’s gonna go. We’re having conversation every play and he really is improving there in terms of coverage recognition.”
Another area of growth for Lagway this spring is his leadership. While Lagway has always led by example, he’s never been the most vocal guy in the crowd. That has chanced since Lagway took over as the starting quarterback last year.
“His leadership, I think, is going to the next level. And he’s becoming more vocal this year, you know, because he kind of transitioned into that role when he became a full time starter last year,” O’Hara said on Lagway’s leadership. “But now he’s not afraid to get on guys, whether it’s good and bad, and he’s having those conversations in between racks with people. You know, he’s coaching them up, and he’s really taking the next step in terms of his leadership and just his own quarterback development. I think he’s been really good.”
It’s no secret that Lagway is advanced beyond his years as a college quarterback. As a true freshman, Lagway led Florida to a 6-0 record in games he started and finished. He graded as the top deep passer in all of college football, per Pro Football Focus. With a healthy Lagway in 2025, the Gators should be able to compete with some of the best teams in the SEC.
“I think he has the best football instincts I’ve ever seen, and that’s every player on the field. I think he sees it quicker, just as a football player. Take quarterback out of it. I think he sees the field as good as anyone I’ve ever been around. And you can’t coach that part, right,” O’Hara said on Lagway. “So he’s seeing things at a higher rate of speed than maybe everybody else is seeing it. And so that’s number one. I don’t think he gets enough credit for that, just his play instincts are phenomenal.”