O'Gara: I'm usually trying to dial back hype with true freshmen, but DJ Lagway is making that nearly impossible
I’m not that guy.
I’m not that guy who gets worked up about commitments in the recruiting process. I’m not that guy who envisions stardom the second a guy signs, especially in the transfer portal era. I’m definitely not that guy who struggles to contain his excitement watching a true freshman in a spring game.
But dare I say, DJ Lagway is making it awfully difficult for me to resist being that guy.
The Florida quarterback’s performance in the spring game confirmed why he took home seemingly every possible award as a decorated 5-star recruit/potential Billy Napier savior. He already looks like that guy. Like, that guy who could lead an SEC offense and have fans salivating at his potential.
Even for someone without a dog in the fight like myself, how can one not salivate when seeing an 18-year-old kid spin it like this?
Touchdown Orange!! ?@DerekLagway connects with @AidanMizell ‼️
? https://t.co/cDmbrV8uRG pic.twitter.com/745yf4SEiM
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) April 13, 2024
With all due respect to Graham Mertz, Anthony Richardson, Emory Jones and even the great Kyle Trask, it’s been 5 years since Florida had a guy who could make a downfield throw that special. Feleipe Franks could do that on occasion. Of course, his career didn’t quite reach stardom in the way many hoped.
If Lagway’s career doesn’t reach stardom at Florida, one wouldn’t assume it’ll be because he struggles with the opportunity when it comes (we didn’t even get the full arsenal of the RPOs yet because he wasn’t live). One would assume any path without stardom at Florida will be because of a potential coaching change. It’s hard to separate Napier’s future from Lagway’s. They feel synonymous in some ways and totally independent in others.
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On one hand, Lagway looking the part as a true freshman in whatever reps he gets — I was told that there was a package for him upon his arrival and they’d add 2 more as he picked things up — would sell a vision of hope to better Napier’s case for a Year 4. On another hand, Lagway can have moments like he had in Florida’s spring game as Mertz’s understudy and it’s still nowhere near enough to overcome that beast of a schedule, which ultimately leads to Napier’s firing.
It’s OK to think both things are possible. With Lagway, it’s hard to put specific parameters on his potential. Guys don’t show up to the SEC with his size, arm strength and understanding of the position. He’s 6-3, 241 pounds and looks every bit of it. This isn’t a situation like Nico Iamaleava, who had to gain weight in what was always going to be a redshirt Year 1 playing behind the elder Joe Milton.
The conservative — and perhaps naive — approach to Lagway’s Year 1 usage would be to take a page out of the Tennessee playbook. That is, trust that Mertz can bridge the gap as Joe Milton did for Iamaleava. After all, Mertz outperformed outside expectations in his first season in Gainesville. If he can play like an above-average SEC quarterback in Year 2 in the offense, why rush Lagway?
Well, Josh Heupel wasn’t facing questions about his future like Napier is with a schedule that’s backloaded with 5 teams that finished in the top 12 of the AP Poll. Heupel could afford to groom Iamaleava and know that Milton was going to be a transition year with a relatively high floor because the Vols were exceptional running the ball and on defense.
OK, so would a better playbook to copy be 2019 Auburn? Gus Malzahn was seemingly always fighting for his job, yet he trusted his 5-star freshman quarterback, Bo Nix, to be the guy from the jump (Malzahn also infamously made Malik Willis his third-stringer out of spring camp). Again, though, that Auburn team had a Derrick Brown-led defense that allowed an average of 17 points during that 5-0 start. The Tigers could afford to let Nix figure things out because it could win low-scoring games. The Gators have yet to show in the 2020s that they can put together a defense that can go win a 21-17 game.
Plus, Auburn didn’t have a returning starter at quarterback. To bail on Mertz for a true freshman from the jump would be the ultimate all-in move that would go against everything we’ve seen from Napier so far.
I don’t expect that. I don’t even really expect grenade games from Mertz, who had just 3 interceptions on 358 pass attempts without a single game below 61% passing. At this stage of his career, he knows what his role is. If he can get better protection along with some more non-Tre Wilson weapons, he could take another step forward.
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Let’s be honest, though. Lagway can already do things that Mertz — a 4-year Power 5 starter and former U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP — cannot. It’s not just that dime he had in the spring game. It’s the arm. It’s the ability to throw on the move. It’s the ability to use his legs when he needs to move the chains. It’s rare to look at a true freshman quarterback and struggle to come up with the things he can’t do yet.
Lagway did have a play in the spring game when he didn’t see the linebacker sit on a route on third-and-long. Even if that pass gets completed, it’s still a receiver catching a bail with his back to the line to gain that’s 10 yards away.
INT each for DJ Lagway (via Mannie Nunnery) and Graham Mertz (via Sharif Denson) on consecutive possessions. #Gators pic.twitter.com/ndkJenzKlg
— OnlyGators.com: Florida Gators news (@onlygators) April 13, 2024
As Chris Doering said on the broadcast, that was the first big mistake for Lagway on the day. It’s the type of mistake that you can probably get away with playing against elite high school competition, but not in the SEC. That’s coachable. Someone who processes like Lagway is a good bet to correct a mistake like that.
The question is if Napier would be willing to stomach those coachable moments from a true freshman if his future is hanging in the balance. Even starting 5-2 could put that in question. Remember, that’s exactly what Napier did in 2023 before losing 5 consecutive games to close the season and miss out on a bowl game.
There’ll be time for Napier to figure that out. How much time? That’s a different story.
In the meantime, I’ll figure out how to contain my excitement whenever Lagway takes the field.
A UF QB getting over-hyped, never gonna happen
TDOW…And we all thought that Vol QB’s were the only ones hyped. The Vol fans even think Nico will win the Heisman this year.
As long as he gets to pass against Florida’s 2nd-string defense without fear of the defense being allowed to hit him all year, Lagway won’t be stopped!
“I’m not that guy.”
Well, yes, the article sorta says you are.
“It’s rare to look at a true freshman quarterback and struggle to come up with the things he can’t do yet.”
Well, other than run the full offense and see a field of tighter windows than you faced in high school.
Lagway will have some growing-pains, as all newbie SEC Quarterbacks do. But the quality of the players surrounding him will determine his success at Florida.
Truer words were never spoken.
Lagway for Heisman…book it!
Were I a gambler, with Isaiah Bond’s transfer to Texas I think right now I would go with Quinn Ewers.
Nash…Totally Agreed. Bond’s a stud receiver.
Lagways Heisman will go in the trophy case next to Frank’s Heisman, or will it be next to AR105’s Heisman?
Has anyone seen Treon’s Heisman, it seems to have been misplaced.
Treon didn’t win the Heisman, but he quarterbacked a humiliation of the Georgia defense that remains mystifying to this day.
Let’s call it the “413 Award.”
That humiliating loss to Treon and Muschamp in 2014 followed by the Faton Bauta debacle the next season gave Dawgnation, drum roll please,
The Kirby Smart Dynasty
But yeah, getting out rushed by a huuuuuge margin when we had Nick Chubb and Sony Michele on our roster was bewildering to say the least.
Yes indeed, all steppingstones to the Kirby era but I must admit, that ground and pound whooping Harris and company put on us is still one of life’s great mysteries. I put a lot of that on the Richt-Pruitt discord but still, quite perplexing that game was indeed! Our front 7 was completely manhandled…
Td wow,
Who was the last uga to win the h man?
Also I think Trenon did beat uga with only throwing 3 passes
We all know who UGA’s last Heisman winner was just like we know who UF’s last Heisman winner was.
The Heisman is turning into the Nobel Prize, it use to really mean something but not so much anymore. Just like the Noble Peace Prize is rigged for leftists, the Heisman is rigged for the QB for the gaudiness numbers or whichever QB is the Sport’s Media BFF De Jour.
Who had the best stats as a college QB – Tebow or Stetson Bennett? Stetson was a 2-time Back-to-Back NC winning QB, 2-time CFP Player of the Game and 2-time NC Player of the Game but was a Heisman finalist only once.
Heisman aside, who accomplished more at the college level – Bennett or Baker Mayfield, Bennett or Kyler Murray, Bennett or Lamar Jackson, Bennett or Caleb Williams, Bennett or Bryce Young? Jaden Daniels had some gaudy numbers but what did his team accomplish; in his one head-to-head duel with Bennett he lost the SECCG 50-30?
Look at Bennett’s final season stats and consider the fact that Bennett was pulled in the 3rd quarter of 6 games and Kirby goes into mercy mode as soon as the game is no longer in doubt (Kirby didn’t even play Beck in the 2nd half of this season’s Orange Bowl.) Compare Bennett’s 2022 stats to those of Mayfield, Murray, Young and Williams when they won the Heisman. The Heisman doesn’t even always correlate to the best college QB.
Was just a simple question my friend. Was just curious why you were making jokes on uf qb winning the heisman as uf has had 3 qb win it , 1 that should have (grossman) , 1 that should have repeated ( Tebow 08) multiple others with top 5 finishes .
TDOW…The Heisman’s turned into a media-created popularity contest.
Funny how one smart guy and one dumb guy can both take your Heisman bit seriously. Guess neither knows your history
“smart guy and one dumb guy … take your Heisman bit seriously … neither knows your history” (I wonder who the “dumb guy” is)
Seriously Francis, it looks we (or I) really did break you, I’m sorry bro.
Have faith, time heals all wounds and no I don’t really think you are a broke aass cracker.
After sifting through all the BS, the only thing you got right is you recognized who the dumb guy was. That’s a start
Very fair article. Lagway will be hard to ruin in as much as he evidences the character that champions are made of and has native talent galore to boot. You can bet your bottom dollar, though, that when facing SEC competition opposing teams will do their best to test him and bring him down. That’s just a natural product of all the hype surrounding him – which fortunately he doesn’t appear to be part of himself.
He’ll stumble occasionally when he comes in – that’s a function of being a freshman in the SEC, and as good as he is I hope frustrated Gator fans can refrain from making too much of it. Like Gaga, who will predictably and reflexively start bleating, “SEE, I TOLD YOU NAPIER WOULD RUIN HIM AND YOU WOULDN’T LISTEN!!”. Sure, it’s still a free country with free speech so far still codified into our DNA, but while virtually all things are permissible, not all things are beneficial.
IMO, his relationship with Mertz will be key. I can’t think of a better peer mentor than him, and his value won’t just be on the field.
Well said, I think he’s displayed a high level of character to date and Gator fans should be excited to see him grow in the program. He’ll be a worthy backup to Mertz as he learns the system and adjusts to the speed of the competition
The MertzAMentor, the MerztAMaster, The MertzATutor, Dean Mertz …
Sensei Metrz and grasshopper Lagway – the perfect combination for cooking up a Heisman!!!
With all due respect to O’Gara, I just don’t see Lagway beating the Mertzinator out this season any more than Tebow beat Leak out in 2006, regardless of how hot CBN’s seat gets.
As for winning the Heisman, Lagway certainly has the potential to do it some day, but not this season.
I see a Leak/Tebow kind of QB situation for the Gators. Mertz will run the show but Lagway will have a package or two. Should be fun to watch.
100% agree.
I don’t want to read again the stupid article but I don’t recall the author talking about a Heisman. You can correct me if I’m wrong but I think this Heisman BS talk was started by our adopted Gator wannabe, leghumper in the comments
100% agree with this too!
Stl…But as Billy’s seat reaches the boiling point he’ll feel more pressure to use Lagway to show the Gator fans, and big Bull Gators a ray of hope for the future. Hopefully he resists that urge. Mertz played very well for the Gators in 2023 and is a settled, well-balanced Quarterback.
AFan, throwing AR-15 to the Dawgs didn’t save Mullen’s job in 2021. Repeating that desperate move with Lagway won’t save CBN’s job in 2024.
CBN’s fate is firmly tied to cleaning up his D and ST play. A true frosh QB won’t save his bacon if those other two units continue their clown show performances of the past 2 seasons.
The Gators must play fundamentally sound football in all 3 phases and win more games than they lose. Occasional brilliant play by Lagway won’t change the fact that after three full years, the Gator D and ST’s will have been as awful as they were the day CBN was hired. That’ll brand him incapable of improving them and therefore unqualified for his job in the long run.
Somehow, I think that TDOW does not yet grasp that he is irrelevant on the Florida page. :)
thanks for taking the time to point out my irrelevance!!!!!
Probably a knee-jerk reaction. A spring game is not an indicator of a freshman QB’s future. Occasionally one lives up to the hype.
Unless Lagway can play defense– or better yet, coach defense– he won’t have much of an impact on this season.
Once again, Truth shines a light on the most relevant factor for the Gators headed into this season.
Gotta give O’Gara some credit though. At least he mentioned it.
I don’t want to give Ogara any credit. He insulted Lagway by comparing him to Franks and insulted Mertz by comparing his situation to Milton’s. Milton starting while Nico sat is nowhere similar to Mertz starting and Lagway waiting. Milton was another AR15, Mertz is much better that those two and I don’t care about arm strength or ability to hit the roof, or the occasional bomb completion because it was followed by a bunch of incompletions. Accuracy and ball protection and moving the chains is what Mertz brings to the table, neither AR or Milton could match that
O’Gara’s take on the QBs is more of his usual idiotic drivel. I agree it deserves no positive comment.
Truth was referring to the outsized difference better defensive play will make this Gator season. O’Gara at least referred to it.
Get ready for an onslaught of these silly season fake controversies. All you need to know is this: Mertz is the starter. Mertz will be the starter. Mertz will finish the season as the starter, barring injury. Lagway will play in every game. Lagway has an enormous amount of work and development in front of him.
Lagway has the one and done transfer portal in front of him if Napier shhtts the bed this season. afraid to say
That is just wishful thinking right now, if Napier fails again and is let go it doesn’t automatically mean Lagway will bail
Berwin, mrtruth spoke the ground reality and you nailed it to the wall right there. We’re still a year away from probable redemption and turning the corner is the realistic task for this 2024 edition of the Gator team with or without a super-star. Good to keep in mind before we start drooling all over ourselves prematurely!