What’s the honor that Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway got after the 2024 season? The Messiah of his head coach, Billy Napier. After all, Napier was hanging at the end of the cliff. And it would have required him another flop season to lose his head coaching seat. There entered Lagway, and no one could cook a debut better than that. 

In the Gators’ feat against Samford, Lagway left the crowd with only one cheer, “DJ! DJ! DJ!” The quarterback came off with flying colors, going 18-25 with 456 yards, crushing Samford to mere specks of dust. But the Gators’ fans’ luck did not hold out for long. Lagway got limited during the spring practice. The reason? He was still recovering from lingering shoulder and lower body injuries. Now that only a month is left for the 2025 season to pull up the curtains, fans are curious about their favorite quarterback’s health updates.

On the July 12 episode of the Cover 3 podcast, Bud Elliott took this up while discussing with Swamp247’s Graham Hall. Right now, fans are yet to get an update about whether Lagway is resting or has undergone surgery. His family remaining tight-lipped amidst the looming confusion further adds to the worries. As the Gators insider shared, “They didn’t say. And I think that comes down to his family’s wishes wanting to protect this quarterback. And obviously that at the next level, they’re going to put you under a microscope and read everything there is about you, and any durability concerns could cause you to drop in the draft. And not saying that we want to look that far ahead, but this is a desire to protect him.” 

He further added, “Even everything Billy Napier said was vague, where people got a little bit conspiratorial in a sense, and they were wondering what this actually was. And that’s absolutely fair because there wasn’t much information out there. He did not have surgery. This is something that he’s been dealing with throughout his career. It’s not relatively new.” Lagway was carted off the field against rival Georgia after sustaining a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the rest of that contest and another game after that. However, when it comes to his shoulder issues, it dates back to high school. But they resurfaced during Florida’s spring practice in March.

The analyst noted, “By February, they decided that he needed to actually shut it down and continue to recuperate so that when the 2025 season rolled around, he would be as healthy as possible. And it would be more of a pain management type thing. Now, could he potentially have surgery down the line? It’s absolutely a possibility. Obviously, I’m no doctor, and I don’t have his medical files in front of me. But I would assume that if this is something that lingers or is bothering him still at the end of the 2025 season, that they’re going to want to go clean that up and make it so it’s not a long-term issue for him whatsoever.” As per the latest updates, it was some sort of hernia-type issue that has been pestering Lagway.  

Around May, Gators fans could find some kind of hope with their quarterback. Napier confirmed that Lagway has amped up his daily practice, making 210 passes a week. While the quarterback’s health update is still kept under wraps, Florida’s fate now depends on the quarterback.

Billy Napier’s CFP dreams rest on DJ Lagway’s shoulder

Even though Lagway fell prey to a hamstring injury, it did not break Lagway’s morale. He came back to lead the team on an impressive four-game winning streak to finish the year. With this, the Gators fans did not miss their starter Graham Mertz, who took an exit due to injury, making way for Lagway.

Now you know how much hold the quarterback has on Florida’s success. As analyst Pat Dooley rightly pointed out, the onus is on Lagway. “My point is, everybody wants to know about him because everybody also understands Florida is tied in to DJ Lagway. That’s the only way they’re going to have a chance to make the playoffs. That would be what I would say. Florida can make the playoffs if DJ Lagway stays healthy. They can’t if he doesn’t. Pretty simple.”

Definitely, DJ Lagway’s health is a crucial factor. However, there are other factors as well that will determine Billy Napier’s CFP fate. And that’s their schedule. As per the College Football News, the Florida Gators have the toughest strength of schedule ahead of the 2025 season. Going by the rankings of the toughest schedule, they stand at the top spot with a 343.5 strength of rating. That’s when former Gators head coach Urban Meyer chimed in with his take. He has predicted that Florida will grab eight wins this season, which is above BetMGM’s win total line of 6.5 set for UF. Can they roar to eight wins without a fully fit Lagway?