The college football offseason is heating up, and while coaching changes continue to dominate headlines, the player movement ahead of January’s transfer portal window is already making waves. The latest big name to hit the portal? Florida quarterback DJ Lagway - a former five-star recruit who was once seen as the future of Gators football.
After two seasons in Gainesville, Lagway is officially on the move.
The Texas native came into college with sky-high expectations. As a senior at Willis High School, he lit up defenses for over 4,000 passing yards and 58 touchdowns, earning National Gatorade Player of the Year honors. His commitment was a major recruiting victory for Florida head coach Billy Napier, who envisioned Lagway as the centerpiece of his rebuild in Gainesville.
And early on, that vision seemed to be taking shape. When starter Graham Mertz went down with a torn ACL in 2024, Lagway stepped into the spotlight as a true freshman.
Over seven starts, he showed flashes of why he was so highly touted - throwing for 1,915 yards with a 59.9% completion rate and averaging 10 yards per attempt. The arm talent was obvious, and the upside was tantalizing.
But like so many young quarterbacks, Lagway’s path hasn’t been linear. A mix of nagging hamstring and shoulder injuries sidelined him for most of the 2025 offseason, and the sophomore campaign that many had circled as his breakout year never quite materialized. He finished the season with 2,264 passing yards on a 63.2% completion rate, but his yards per attempt dropped to 6.7, and he threw 14 interceptions - a tough stat line for a Gators team that struggled to find consistency.
Now, with Jon Sumrall taking over as Florida’s new head coach and Buster Faulkner stepping in as offensive coordinator, it’s clear Lagway won’t be the centerpiece of the new regime’s plans. Instead, he’s looking for a fresh start - and he’ll have no shortage of suitors.
Lagway still has two years of eligibility remaining, and his raw tools - size, arm strength, mobility - remain as intriguing as ever. According to reports, he’s hoping to follow a similar path to quarterbacks like Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels, who both revitalized their careers after transferring and went on to become Heisman contenders.
That kind of turnaround isn’t out of the question for Lagway. He’s got the pedigree, he’s shown flashes of high-level play, and with the right coaching staff and system, he could absolutely thrive in a new environment.
So where might he land? There’s already buzz about a potential return to his home state of Texas, with multiple programs in the region expected to be in the mix.
And don’t sleep on Kentucky either. The Wildcats’ offensive coordinator, Joe Sloan, previously worked with Jayden Daniels at LSU and has a track record of developing quarterbacks.
That connection could make Lexington an intriguing destination.
Other names being floated include Arizona State and Notre Dame, both of which have coaching ties to the staffs that helped Nix and Daniels take that next step. Wherever Lagway ends up, he’ll be one of the most closely watched quarterbacks in the portal this cycle.
The official transfer window opens on January 2, but the dominoes are already starting to fall. And with DJ Lagway now in the mix, the quarterback market just got a whole lot more interesting.