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?

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.

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.