DJ Lagway came to Baylor with the kind of buzz that usually follows a program-changing quarterback. He was a former five-star recruit, a legacy player whose father suited up for the Bears, and the biggest addition Baylor made in the transfer portal.
In Waco, that mattered. Nationally, not so much.
That disconnect showed up in Brett McMurphy’s recent top 10 list of the Big 12’s most impactful transfers for On3. Lagway landed 10th, and he was the second quarterback on the board behind Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker.
McMurphy made the case for Mestemaker by pointing to a huge season at North Texas. “If QB Drew Mestemaker isn’t the most hyped signal-caller in Oklahoma State's history, he is easily the most anticipated newcomer.
Last season as a freshman at North Texas, Mestemaker put up ridiculous numbers (4,379 yards passing, 34 TD passes) as the Mean Green led the nation in scoring (45.1 points per game). Mestemaker ranks as the nation’s No. 7 overall transfer and No. 2 quarterback, behind only LSU's Sam Leavitt," McMurphy said.
That ranking ahead of Lagway makes sense on paper. Mestemaker’s production last season outpaced anything Lagway put together a year ago, and McMurphy also pointed to Lagway’s turnover problems in 2025 as part of the reason he ended up lower on the list.
Still, there’s a case to be made that Lagway is being judged a little too harshly. College football keeps changing, but players are still developing. They’re young, and the jump from promise to production is rarely clean.
Even so, five-star recruits carry that label for a reason. They’re supposed to be the players who tilt a roster.
Lagway has the upside, but he’s not arriving as a finished product. This isn’t Baylor landing Arch Manning or a player with that kind of polished certainty.
What Baylor is betting on is growth. Lagway threw 14 interceptions last year, which led the SEC, and he still has plenty to clean up. His high school background and his status as a legacy recruit only add to the intrigue, but the raw talent still has to be shaped.
The answer, though, is still yes: the gamble was worth it for Dave Aranda and his staff. A quarterback with Lagway’s ceiling is too valuable to pass up.
And while there are players ahead of him on McMurphy’s list right now, Lagway could climb fast if the development hits. If Jake Spavital and Baylor’s receivers click with him, the ceiling is obvious.
That’s the real question hanging over Baylor this season. Will Lagway get there?
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For Baylor, the spread of those honors says as much about the programs depth as it does about any one standout. Williams has already established himself as a weapon, and the special teams respect was joined by nods for an interior defender, a linebacker, a snapper and a tackle, giving the Bears a strong early-season snapshot of where some of their most trusted pieces stand. Barnes recognition is especially notable coming off a shortened 2025, which makes his place on the list a reminder of how much Baylor still expects from him once he is back in the mix. [Read more 🡒]