Kirk Herbstreit sets the bar high on DJ Lagway in 2025: 'I'm telling you, that's the guy'

The 2024 season appeared to be a daunting task for the Florida Gators and head coach Billy Napier. With one of the toughest schedules in the country, Napier entered the year on the hot seat. Many didn’t expect him to even survive the season, and then the team seemed to take off with DJ Lagway at quarterback.

Now, with the 2025 season rapidly approaching, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit went on The Pat McAfee Show. There, he praised how Napier was able to keep the Gators together. He also made sure to set a high bar for Lagway, expecting him to turn heads in the fall.

“Billy Napier’s team last year; at one point, they were like 2-5, and everybody had him fired.”Herbstreit said. “In this era of NIL and portal, you’re just expecting these guys to check out. Where are they gonna go? And he rallies them at the end of the year. They win a bunch of games.”

Florida opened the 2024 season with Graham Mertz at quarterback and Lagway, then a highly-touted true freshman, backing him up. The Gators were 3-2 heading into the Tennessee game when Mertz would go down for the rest of the season. They’d lost the Tennessee game and two of their next three games. Then, a switch seemed to flip, and Florida won their final four games to finish 8-5.

For his part, Lagway showed why he’s such a well-regarded young quarterback. He’d finish the season completing 59.9% of his passes for 1,915 yards and 12 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He also rushed for 101 yards. Now, he appears ready to truly break out for Florida.

“Lagway, to me, if you’re trying to find the guy that in the middle of October we’re talking about, ‘Where’s this guy?’ I’m telling you, that’s the guy. Because we know about [LaNorris] Sellers. We know about [John] Mateer at Oklahoma, has a chance,” Herbstreit said. “But I think if there’s a guy, it’s DJ Lagway at Florida that I think a lot of people are gonna fall in love with. I was proud of Florida, the way they kept fighting.”

DJ Lagway injury update: Billy Napier reveals Florida QB’s current health status at SEC Media Day

This offseason, Lagway has missed time in practice with an injury. He’s throwing again and appears close to fully healthy, less than two months away from the season. At SEC Media Days, Billy Napier added to that, sharing an injury update.

“DJ has continue — you know, we throw the quarterback three times a week,” Billy Napier said. “He’s continued to do that. He actually got a good session in this morning before he came here. So, we feel confident in terms of him being ready to go.”

Florida will need Lagway healthy for the start of the season. The Gators open on August 30th against the LIU Sharks. Later, SEC play begins with a road trip to Death Valley to play the LSU Tigers on September 13th.