The Florida Gators are going to be embracing the future for the rest of the 2024 season as five-star true freshman quarterback D.J. Lagway will be starting the rest of the season after Graham Mertz suffered a season-ending knee injury against Tennessee this past Saturday.
It's an unfortunate loss for the Gators who were starting to gain momentum with Mertz under center. They led Tennessee 10-0 in the third quarter before losing 23-17 in overtime. Mertz was injured in the second half and was shown on the sidelines with crutches talking to teammates.
After a brutal opener against Miami where he was initially injured, Mertz found his groove and played some really good football. He was up-and-down against Texas A&M, but only had 10 incompletions in the last three games across 59 passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Mertz could only do so much with head coach Billy Napier's abysmally conservative playcalling,
The reins go to Lagway, who did throw a really nice touchdown pass on third and 18 with less than a minute left to force overtime this past Saturday against Tennessee.
After his first start against Samford where Lagway threw for a whopping 456 yards and three touchdowns, Lagway has seen his share of struggles, including two interceptions against Texas A&M and one critical one against Tennessee that directly led to them tying the game at 10.
The consensus five-star quarterback has an insane bag of tools to work with, but it's obvious that Lagway isn't all the way there yet with his processing as a passer. He doesn't see the field well right now and will miss defenders. What he does bring you is an element of creativity and dual-threat ability.
Lagway stands at 6-3" and 240 lbs and has a lot of juice in the running game. When he plays, it elicits shades of former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who was built like Brian Urlacher but could uncork a missile like Brett Favre. He needs to harness his game quite a bit, but there is a ton to like about what Lagway brings to the table.
Over the next six games, Lagway is going to get a ton of valuable experience that will make a huge impact on the future of the Gators program. It could also save Napier's job , as he can now go to the athletic director and say that his season was ruined by injuries and was forced to start Lagway full-time before he was ready.
On the other hand, starting Lagway could be a huge blessing, as he could blossom into the quarterback who could be the savior of the program. Anthony Richardson was great but only one season with the Gators hinders that a bit and Kyle Trask also did a great job but didn't have the tools that a player like Lagway does.
If he can take a big step during the rest of the season, it's very possible that Lagway could be the best quarterback since Tim Tebow was on campus and that would do wonders for the Gators program.
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