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ESPN: DJ Lagway one of college football's 40 most important players

On3 imageby: Keith Niebuhr08/05/25On3Keith
Florida-Gators-DJ-Lagway
Florida Gators freshman quarterback DJ Lagway (UAA Photo / Lorenzo Vasquez)

ESPN’s Bill Connelly calls Florida Gators sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway one of the most important players in the country for the 2025 college football season. In fact, he has him pretty high on his list.

Connelly wrote the following Tuesday:

“According to ESPN BET, there are currently 21 teams with at least +10,000 odds (equivalent to about a 1% chance) of winning the national title in 2025. Thirteen of them are starting new quarterbacks, and seven of those are extremely inexperienced. Three other contenders are starting sophomores, who, while experienced compared with others, are still sophomores.

Translation: The quarterback position, already the most important in any team sport, is going to be more important than ever this fall. Any of the 21 contenders that have a particularly good one will have a massive opportunity on their hands.“

Connelly then ranked the “40 players who could define the season with moments or long spells, of greatness.” Texas QB Arch Manning came in at No. 1 on the list. Lagway checked in at No. 12 and Connelly noted, “Lagway needs to be healthy before he can really threaten to upend this season.” (You can read the full article HERE)

He brought up the following stats to back up Lagway’s placement:

—”The national average for scramble rate (scrambles per dropback) was 6.6%. Lagway was at 7.2%.”
—”The national average for air yards per pass was 8.6 yards downfield. … Lagway [was] 10.6.”
—”The national average for yards per completion last season was 12.1. … Lagway (16.7) averaged far more.”

DJ Lagway was joined by these players in the top 15

After Manning, the top 15 most important players list was as follows (they’re all quarterbacks):

2. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
3. Ty Simpson, Alabama
4. CJ Carr, Notre Dame
5. Dante Moore, Oregon
6. Julian Sayin, Ohio State
7. Drew Allar, Penn State
8. Cade Klubnik, Clemson
9. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
10. Carson Beck, Miami
11) LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina 
12) DJ Lagway, Florida
13) John Mateer, Oklahoma
14) Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
15) Austin Simmons, Ole Miss

Lagway and the Gators will face six of those players during the regular season, starting with Nussmeier in Week 3 and Beck in Week 4.

Last season, as a true freshman, Lagway flashed his potential by passing for 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He played a pivotal role in helping Florida finish 8–5 [with four straight wins to close the season]. He started seven games (most after veteran quarterback Graham Mertz was lost for the season with a torn ACL), going 6–1.

To cap the season, Lagway became the Gasparilla Bowl’s first 300-yard passer and for his efforts he was named the game’s MVP. 

Lagway did not throw during spring practice due to what UF coach Billy Napier called a “lower body/shoulder” injury. He was limited to begin preseason camp with a calf injury but now seems to be improving physically and he has looked good during the media’s two brief viewing windows since Saturday.

Gators Online has VIP intel on Lagway’s recovery HERE.

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