DJ Lagway was benched in Florida’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 11. The true freshman had a rough day at the office, and Billy Gonzales opted to bench him in favor of priority backup Tramell Jones.
Following the game, there was speculation about who’d be the team’s starter going forward. Gonzales seems to have answered the question ahead of the Ole Miss matchup.
According to On3 Sports, the Gators’ interim coach said,
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“He’s been fantastic. He was awesome. He’s done a great job. Went out there yesterday. First two days, really, really good. I’ll talk about yesterday’s practice, but he had a really good practice. He understands.”
Gonzales concluded by saying,
“I’ve had a chance to talk to him a couple of times, and we just talked about what he likes, and some of the things we can do to help him. It’s a learning process, and again, I talked to him; for me, it was all about refocusing. Just refocus.”
Gonzales was tasked with steadying the ship after the Florida Gators parted ways with Bill Napier. The Gators are currently 3-6, and they’ll need a stunning run of form to secure bowl game eligibility.
Getting the most out of their promising shot caller would be crucial to their end-of-the-season targets. Fans can expect Lagway to feature against the Ole Miss Rebels; it’s just a question of how much time he’ll have on the gridiron.
ESPN ranks DJ Lagway among the Power 4 quarterbacks
DJ Lagway’s struggles in his true freshman season are well-documented. The Florida Gators’ shot caller has amassed a stat line of 1,762 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in nine games.
ESPN has taken these struggles into account, ranking Lagway as No. 55 out of 68 Power 4 quarterbacks. It represents another low point in the season for the former No. 1 overall prospect.
Lagway has three more games to improve his counting stats for his freshman campaign. Those games are against the Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Titans, and Florida State Seminoles.
It’ll be interesting to see how Florida addresses the quarterback position at the end of the season. The program could either lock in with DJ Lagway as the undisputed starter or bring in another starting-caliber quarterback via the transfer portal.
Edited by Nick Igbokwe
