DJ Lagway: ‘Having Graham Mertz was the best thing that could ever happen to me’
By Andrew Olson
Published:
DJ Lagway is ready for his first full season as Florida‘s starting quarterback. He’s highly appreciative, though, of getting to learn from Graham Mertz last year.
In an SEC Media Days interview, Lagway recalled how Billy Napier told him that would be the case.
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“Having Graham Mertz was the best thing that could ever happen to me,” Lagway told SiriusXM. “I always tell this story but Coach Napier came into the office, the coach’s office, going into my freshman year. He was like, ‘Having Graham Mertz is going to be the best thing that ever happened to you.’
“At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know,’ Lagway chuckled. But looking back, Graham has been an amazing resource and still is to this day. And it’s great to kind of have him back in my home city in Houston. And, you know, we kind of chop it up about different things, like what to go do down there and stuff like that. But, you know, Graham is just an amazing resource to have, an amazing human being, and I was just thankful to have him.”
After 4 seasons at Wisconsin, Mertz transferred to Florida ahead of the 2023 campaign. He entered 2024 as the incumbent starter and was QB1 until tearing his ACL in game 5, leading to stepping into the starting role.
As Lagway referenced, Mertz is now in Houston as a member of the Texans. The team selected him in the 6th round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the No. 197 overall pick.
"Graham [Mertz] has been an amazing resource and still is 'til this day."@FloridaGators QB1 DJ Lagway tells @ChrisDoering, @JacobHester18 & @DustyDvoracek how much former Gator QB Graham Mertz has helped him navigate the #Swamp. #GoGators | #SECMD25 pic.twitter.com/vxxj0PJTi3
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) July 17, 2025
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
