On Monday, we got a key development to help answer one of the most intriguing questions of 2025.
Where will DJ Lagway be in 2026?
That question ramped up after Billy Napier‘s firing, though it reached a fever pitch on Monday when the former 5-star quarterback announced that he’ll be entering the transfer portal. Ultimately, that means that unless Lagway has a change of heart, he won’t be the face of Buster Faulkner’s first offense at Florida. Considering how Haynes King was used in Faulkner’s offense at Georgia Tech, it’s not a surprise to see someone who has dealt with multiple injuries during the first 2 years wasn’t an obvious fit.
But where would Lagway fit after a lost season wherein Florida’s 4-8 record fell well short of what we expected to see from the preseason All-SEC quarterback? Is someone with 23 interceptions in essentially 1.5 seasons worth of starts going to scare teams off? Or is there still enough meat left on the bone to make some premier programs pursue Lagway? Both things can be true.
What’s clear is that Lagway will indeed have a market. But today, let’s tackle the new most intriguing question.
Where could we see the best version of Lagway in 2026? Here are 5 fits that would make a ton of sense:
LSU
I mean, Lane Kiffin retweeted the initial Pete Nakos report of Lagway’s decision to enter the portal, which would suggest that he could be a target for the new LSU coach:
Whether that was just Kiffin being Kiffin in some attempt to troll Florida — let’s not forget that Kiffin’s “spot the ball” post was a not-so-subtle jab at the Gators’ mantra — or actual interest remains to be seen. From Lagway’s perspective, all he could do is look at what Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. did with Trinidad Chambliss, who entered the season as a Division II transfer and became the No. 8 vote-getter in the 2025 Heisman Trophy voting. Kiffin’s track record with transfer quarterbacks also includes Jaxson Dart, who became an All-SEC quarterback and a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Both of those things were once considered likely boxes for Lagway to check, but a combination of poor decision-making, injuries and Napier’s play-calling have gotten in the way of that. Kiffin didn’t tolerate Austin Simmons’ interceptions, but it’s worth remembering that he stood by Matt Corral in 2020 when he had multiple Lagway-like games with 5 interceptions, and that yielded a 7th-place finish in the 2021 Heisman voting. It’s also worth noting that Chambliss had the lowest pressure rate in the SEC at 20.5%, and No. 2 on that list was Garrett Nussmeier at LSU, who figures to have several offensive linemen returning.
Nobody should be surprised if Lagway, who ended Kiffin’s Playoff hopes as a true freshman in 2024, crosses enemy lines.
Tennessee
I swear this isn’t just a list for Florida’s rivals. Do I think this is an obvious destination? I don’t, but after my Saturday Down South Podcast co-host Will Ogburn threw out this idea nearly a week before Lagway’s transfer announcement, I thought about it more. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the potential fit.
While there would definitely be a scheme adjustment for Lagway to make, Josh Heupel‘s offense just took a mistake-prone guy like Joey Aguilar and turned him into the leader of the No. 7 scoring offense in America. Mind you, that was as a post-spring transfer in an up-tempo offense. Aguilar only took 17 sacks on the season thanks in part to that tempo, as well as a new-look offensive line that found its groove early on. That included paving the way for a ground attack that averaged 175 yards per game. Lagway won’t be tasked with scrambling in that offense, and a handful of designed runs aren’t going to make him a weekly injury risk.
Let’s remember that while Faizon Brandon’s signing with Tennessee has him billed as the “quarterback of the future” in Knoxville, he’s 17 years old. Heupel starting a true freshman doesn’t seem like it would be his ideal choice to appease that talented group of skill players, which included SEC Freshman of the Year Braylon Staley. Heupel has typically favored more experienced signal callers, and while some might compare Lagway’s skill set to the talented but often underwhelming Joe Milton, a 45.5% adjusted completion percentage on deep throws in 2 years at Florida (Milton was No. 15 in the SEC with 32.8% on those throws) would suggest otherwise.
The Vols could do much worse than Lagway to address their 2026 quarterback situation.
Texas Tech
The fightin’ Cody Campbells would have a whole lot to sell Lagway on. There’s the obvious. That is, the transfer portal spending at Texas Tech was unprecedented, and it resulted in unprecedented success in 2025. No matter what happens with guys from the 2025 Texas Tech squad who leave for the NFL, one would think it’s not going to be a situation wherein Lagway is looking around and wondering where the help is. With the benefit of that offensive line restructuring, Behren Morton had a 23.6% pressure rate on drop-backs, which was No. 3 in the Big 12, and he also took just 17 sacks in Mack Leftwich’s run-and-gun offense that didn’t ask him to be Superman.
In a conference that saw former blue-chip SEC quarterbacks like Conner Weigman and Sawyer Robertson become the best versions of themselves, Lagway could follow a similar path. After the gauntlets that he saw in his first 2 years at Florida, perhaps there’d be some appeal to joining the Playoff team from a 1-bid league.
But I suppose I buried the lede here with the other thing that Joey McGuire could offer that the other programs on this list cannot. That is, an opportunity to return to the state of Texas. Lagway’s Lone Star State roots were a popular topic of conversation both during his recruitment and after he arrived at Florida. The ability to play closer to his tight-knit family, albeit 7 hours west of his hometown of Willis, Texas, could give Lubbock a geographical boost.
Texas Tech figures to be a major player in the portal market for its next signal-caller. If 2025 was any indication, a household name like Lagway could covet a situation like that.
Miami (FL)
Tell me that Lagway didn’t look across that sideline and think about how favorable Carson Beck had it with Shannon Dawson at Miami, where former transfer Cam Ward spent his final season before he became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That appeal isn’t just living in South Beach or joining the more favorable ACC, which sent Miami to the Playoff as its lone participant. Shoot, it wouldn’t even just be throwing to Malachi Toney, who could be the best non-Jeremiah Smith receiver returning in the sport in 2026.
All of that has to be appealing. But you know what else should be part of that sell? Beck had games where he didn’t even get touched. He only took 9 sacks in 12 games, and he only got sacked multiple times twice. His 14.7% pressure rate is easily the best in FBS among quarterbacks with at least 50 pressured drop-backs (the aforementioned Chambliss is No. 2 at 20.5%). That’s what a Mario Cristobal-coached offensive line combined with Miami’s spending will do for a quarterback.
Miami pursued Beck even though he dealt with ball-security issues in a regressed 2024 season in which he had 20 turnover-worthy plays. In a regressed 2025 season in which Lagway had 18 turnover-worthy plays, he could seek a similar reset with more advantageous surroundings on the other side of The Sunshine State.
Kentucky
You had me at “Will Stein offense.” Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore all became the best, most well-protected versions of themselves after transferring to Oregon, where they got to learn from and play in Stein’s offense, which has since migrated to Lexington. Yes, Cutter Boley remains the most natural choice for Stein’s first offense, but let’s remember that Stein has earned the right to hand-pick his quarterback, and not necessarily default to the one that Mark Stoops hand picked. If that’s Boley, that’s fine. If that’s the guy who had mixed results in a pair of showings against Kentucky, that’s fine, too.
At Kentucky, Lagway could hit the reset button at a place that opened the season with 3 consecutive disappointing transfer quarterbacks (I’m including Week 1 QB1 Zach Calzada in that discussion after Stoops somehow hand-picked him). They’re starving for decent quarterback play. Lagway might not guarantee that, but if anyone can turn his fortunes around, it’s Stein.
And if he ends up following Billy Napier to James Madison …
Well, let’s just say he won’t be getting a play-calling upgrade.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
