Billy Napier shares next step in DJ Lagway’s development

This spring is the first look that the Florida Gators and head coach Billy Napier have gotten at DJ Lagway, a highly-anticipated quarterback recruit.

Already, Lagway has been very impressive to Napier as he has plenty of natural ability and is quickly taking in information. However, now Napier wants to see him take the next step in his development.

“First of all, I would say he’s impressed me with his ability to learn, retain information, and he picks it up really quickly,” Billy Napier said. “Then his ability to take it from meeting room to walkthrough and then to do it in a practice setting. Today was really good for him, he had to play the situations as they arose throughout the scrimmage. I think the big next step for him is the game-management piece.”

DJ Lagway is coming to Florida from Willis, Texas, where he played his high school football. There, he was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024. He was the top-ranked quarterback and the third-ranked player overall in that cycle.

Now, Napier wants to see Lagway grow as a decision-maker. In particular, knowing when to give up on a play and take what you can get.

“I actually asked him on the field today, ‘Did you play poker growing up? Did you actually play cards growing up?’ If you played Texas Hold Em and you get a three and a four, you fold your cards and you go to the next hand. So, he obviously didn’t play poker growing up, but sometimes you get dealt a bad hand and you got to learn how to play the next hand. So, play the next play, managing the situation, thinking of your decision-making relative to the game and the team within that setting. I think he’s done a really good job in a practice setting but today was new for him.”

Graham Mertz, last season’s starting quarterback, returned to Florida and it’s expected that DJ Lagway will be given time to adjust to the college game and develop.

“Every day is a new learning experience for him but he’s a quick learner and he did a lot of good today. I think he made some plays with his feet, played with the twos most of the day,” Napier said. “I think that’s where he’s at. I think he’s got physical talent, he’s picked it up quickly, and now it’s just about the game-management piece next.”

Quarterback Graham Mertz on his mentorship role with DJ Lagway

Graham Mertz knows that as the veteran in the room, he is going to have a mentorship role with DJ Lagway that should help to set him up for success in the future.

“When I went into Wisconsin, I was a young guy, highly recruited, all this stuff, and that can be a lot. Obviously, I’m not Gatorade National Player of the Year and all this stuff, so it’s a different scale. So, I can bring things that I went through, and recently when I was learning the offense here, and how to teach him, how to grow at a faster rate,” Mertz said.

“But, I mean, he’s doing a great job. The no egos thing, I think that’s exactly what I would say. He’s here to learn, he wants to grow, he’s a competitor, I mean I saw him out there today getting into competitor mode and it fired me up a little bit. So, it’s been awesome, it’s been what two months of it so far, two and a half months, but we’re rolling.”