Joel Klatt cites DJ Lagway as reason for Florida being ranked as top 15 team

The Florida Gators come in at No. 13 in Joel Klatt’s post-spring top 25 ahead of the 2025 college football season. That prediction is largely based on who they have at quarterback — budding superstar DJ Lagway.

A former five star recruit, Lagway took over mid-way through his true freshman season for the injured Graham Mertz — and the Gators went 6-1 during the back stretch of the season with the young signal caller leading the charge. For that, Klatt is giving is boarding the hype train to Gainesville this offseason.

“He’s one of the most exciting players in the country, and you look back at what they were able to do and establish with him last year — the only loss is when he went down with an injury in that game against Georgia,” Klatt explained on his show. “Billy Napier, he blocked out all the noise last year. It was noisy around Napier’s situation. His job status. And he blocked it out.

“And that team, they got better, and then they got a little bit better, and then they got even more better, and then Lagway took them to another level. The defense played really well down the stretch. … But, man, Florida is a good team. They’re a really good team, so don’t sleep on them.”

After those seven starts, Lagway finished the season with 1,915 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions on a 59.9% completion percentage in 2024. He also added an additional 101 sack-adjusted yards to his overall yardage total during his freshman season.

He came to the program as the No. 1 overall quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, and the No. 3 player overall in the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. With Lagway off to a fast start during his college career, many expect greater things ahead for the Gators QB.

While Klatt remains high on Lagway, the FOX Sports analyst pointed toward Florida’s schedule as something which could potentially hold them back down the stretch during the regular season. They will face both Miami and Florida State in non-conference play, and will match up against the likes of LSU, Texas, Georgia and Tennessee among other tough opponents in the SEC.

First, however, the Gators will take on Long Island in the season opener on Aug. 30. The matchup should be a good opportunity for Lagway to showcase his skills in front of fans for the first full season as Florida’s true QB1.