Expectations for the Florida Gators in 2025 are about as high as they could possibly be for a team coming off a 8-5 record and a spot in the Gasparilla Bowl. And those expectations have everything to do with the team's young star at quarterback, DJ Lagway: The five-star recruit may have singlehandedly saved Billy Napier's job in Gainesville, leading Florida to a 6-1 finish after assuming the starting job that included memorable wins over LSU and Ole Miss.
With Lagway back and looking for a major leap, the Gators have been just about everybody's breakout pick this offseason. But any hope of an SEC title depends on keeping Lagway healthy, and that's been up in the air this spring thanks to an undisclosed shoulder injury that's kept the sophomore from throwing at all during practice.
Fans who tuned into the team's Orange and Blue game on Saturday hoping to catch a glimpse of what Florida might look like in year two with Lagway at the helm came away disappointed, as he once again did nothing but take some dropbacks and hand the ball off. But Napier did his best to cut off any potential concern ahead of a very important summer.
DJ Lagway injury update is exactly what Florida fans needed to hear
Napier still wouldn't say exactly what's wrong with his young passer, or what an exact recovery timeline looked like. But he tried to assure fans that Lagway would be back at full-go when the team begins OTAs this summer.
"DJ's doing great," Napier told reporters Saturday. "He'll start throwing here in a couple weeks ... Everything is on schedule."
Which is all well and good; we certainly don't think Napier is outright lying here, and it's way too early to have legitimate concern about Lagway's availability for the regular season. Still, this is obviously not what fans want to hear ahead of an all-important 2025 season: Lagway has jaw-dropping physical ability, but he's still awfully young and awfully raw, and he needs as many reps as he can get if he's going to reach his considerable ceiling this fall.
Lagway's numbers last season don't jump off the page: a 59.9% completion percentage, 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Of course, he was also hampered by a hamstring injury that curtailed his dual-threat ability, and he was often throwing to an injury-plagued group of pass-catchers. But the point remains that he's far from a finished product, and Florida will need him to reach a new level in a hurry if it wants to make good on all this preseason hype.