True freshman quarterback DJ Lagway has taken over as Florida’s starter following Graham Mertz’s season ending knee injury. Lagway and Mertz rotated drives earlier in the season, giving us some data that we can analyze and compare. Through seven games played and two starts, Lagway has brought a different element to Florida’s offense.
Let’s start by looking at the vertical passing game. Lagway is attempting a ‘deep pass’ (20+ air yards) on 21.3% of his passing attempts compared to Mertz’s 11.7%. This can be credited to several things, including Florida’s staff playing to Lagway’s strengths. But there’s also a level of ‘want to’ in Lagway’s game. Mertz has the tendency to be hesitant in the pocket, specifically when pulling the trigger on deeper throws. Lagway wants to throw the deep ball, and executes it with accuracy, touch, and confidence.
Lagway has completed 12 of 19 deep passes (63.2%) for 500 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, an average of 41.6 yards per completion. Mertz has completed 4 of 11 deep passes (36.4%) for 86 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Against Kentucky, Florida’s offense only threw five passes between 0-14 yards (which includes passes behind the line of scrimmage) while attempting 10 passes of 15+ yards, converting seven of them. That is the least amount of short / medium pass attempts and the most deep pass attempts we’ve seen in Florida’s 2024 season, and it came with Lagway at the helm for the full game. Part of that was by design, as Kentucky wasn’t respecting Florida’s deep ball accuracy. The other part was DJ Lagway and his willingness to throw the deep ball despite shorter options open on the field.
Mertz excels with medium depth passes (10-19 air yards). The senior completed 18 of 25 passes in this range (72%) for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Lagway has struggled in this depth, completing just 9 of 22 passes (40.9%) for 197 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.
Perhaps the most underrated part of Lagway’s impact is what he brings to Florida’s running game. With Lagway under center, Florida is averaging 5.6 yards per handoff (excluding FCS competition) compared to 4.4 yards per handoff when Mertz is under center. There are two reasons for this. The first being that opposing defenses have to account for Lagway as a runner, which essentially makes it 12-11 on the football field. The second is that teams have to respect Lagway’s deep pass, making it difficult for them to crowd the box with a single high safety (see the Kentucky game).
You are going to have bumps and bruises whenever you are starting a true freshman quarterback in the SEC. However, Lagway seems to shake wounds quickly and bounce back, displaying a tremendous amount of confidence for a rookie. Lagway brings explosiveness to Florida’s passing game, and simply his presence on the football field has made the Gators a better running team.
Florida is 2-0 with Lagway as their starting quarterback in 2024.