Florida fan flashes DJ Lagway image to Pope Francis in Vatican City
Florida freshman quarterback DJ Lagway has flashed the exciting tools and promise he showed as a highly coveted recruit in high school early in his promising college career. He brought home 2023 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a senior. He hasn’t disappointed in his first year of action on the college football landscape.
And he’s got fans all over the world. On Wednesday evening, a Gators fan flashed an image of Lagway to Pope Francis in Vatican City.
So far, Lagway has completed 58.5% of his passes for 1,477 passing yards, while tossing in nine touchdowns and six interceptions. As a runner, he has 42 carries for 105 rushing yards.
Lagway was one of the most coveted recruits in the country coming out of high school. He was rated as a five-star+ prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. Lagway was tabbed as the No. 3 overall player in America and the No. 1 quarterback in the country.
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His father, John Derek Lagway, played running back for Baylor from 1997-2001. In 2022, Lagway threw for 2,081 passing yards and 24 touchdowns in 2022. He also completed 67% of his passes. He played his high school football for Willis High School (Willis, Texas). The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder threw for 4,604 passing yards and a 6A state record 58 touchdowns his senior year, leading the Wildcats to a 12-1 record. The dynamic dual-threat completed 72.1% of his passes and averaged 354.2 yards per game. He also led the team in rushing yards (957) and touchdowns (16).
Lagway joined recent Gatorade Texas Players of the Year Jackson Arnold (2022-2023), Cade Klubnik, Sawyer Robertson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, as some of the recent winners of the prestigious honor.
Lagway and the Florida Gators will face off against the Florida State Seminoles this Saturday, in one of the more heated rivalries in all of college football. Kick time is slated for 7:00 PM EST and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.