What to Make of DJ Lagway’s First Start as a Gator

After Florida’s embarrassing home opener against the Miami Hurricanes, Florida was able to bounce back against Samford. There was a lot of excitement surrounding this game for Florida, as their new freshman 5-star quarterback, DJ Lagway, was set to make his first collegiate start. With Graham Mertz in concussion protocol, the way was cleared for Lagway to get off to a fast start against a lackluster Samford team.

DJ Lagway would have a tremendous first start, throwing for 456 yards and 3 TDs on only 25 passing attempts. Lagway had several deep throws that were right on target as he showed off his impressive arm strength early and often in this game. He also demonstrated a good ability to navigate the pocket in order to give his receivers time to get open downfield. This game was a good boost to the young quarterbacks confidence as he may become the Gators' starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

However, there were a few drawbacks to Lagway’s first start that showed he needs to develop some before taking the reins. Firstly, his footwork on some of his throws was sloppy. This resulted in him relying too much on his crazy arm talent in order to get throws to his targets. The other major concern is that he will sometimes locks onto a target too early and will force the ball into tight coverage because of the confidence he has in his arm. These are all very fixable things and should improve as he develops in this system.

Overall, this opening game for Lagway was an impressive demonstration of what the future of Gator football will look like with him under center. There should absolutely be a debate on whether Lagway or Mertz should start for the Gators moving forward. After this stellar performance by Lagway, it may be tough for Billy Napier to put the magical genie back in the bottle and let Mertz start moving forward. With Florida playing against a competent Texas A&M team this week, Billy Napier needs to find a way to win this game, or else people will be calling for his head in Gainesville.