Based on everything we’ve heard, I’d expect DJ Lagway to return from his hamstring injury and play on Saturday against LSU.<\/p>\n
The Florida signal-caller “continues to improve” (h\/t Nick de la Torre<\/a>). And according to coach Billy Napier, he’s trending in the right direction to be back for an all-important game against the Tigers, who have a 5-year winning streak in the matchup.<\/p>\n In an ideal world, the plan for Lagway would be obvious. LSU has made defending quarterbacks look like they’re trying to nail jelly to a tree. Since Marcel Reed took over halfway through the 3rd quarter for Texas A&M 2 games ago, LSU has allowed Reed and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe to gain 247 yards on 21 carries, 7 of which were touchdowns. That’s 11.8 yards per carry by opposing quarterbacks.<\/p>\n So ideally for Florida, Napier would recognize the obvious, and Lagway would revert into the guy who racked up 2,196 rushing yards as a prized high school recruit in Texas. Lagway would ideally get double-digit designed quarterback runs, and a depleted Florida offense would look to take advantage of LSU’s Achilles’ heel en route to perhaps a monumental victory both in the short and long terms.<\/p>\n In the short term, a win would perhaps be the difference in Florida earning a bowl berth. In the long term, not only would it impress the bevy of recruits who’ll be on campus for Saturday’s showdown, but beating an AP Top 25 team for the 1st time in 14 months would give Napier something tangible to build on this offseason that goes beyond “we played hard in the middle of the season.”<\/p>\n But that ideal world might be more complicated than that.<\/p>\n You see, there’s great risk in that game plan. What do you mean? Didn’t Napier already get a vote of confidence that he’s returning next season?<\/p>\n Sure, but Saturday will have a major say in Florida’s offseason vibe, no matter how it turns out.<\/p>\n Let’s start with the worst-case scenario. That would be Lagway suffering another lower-body injury that sidelines him in the spring. As in, that time in which Lagway should be getting all the 1st-team reps and developing a rapport with Florida’s pass-catchers and being the leader of the program in the post-Graham Mertz era. That’s significant, especially in the likely event that the Gators are aggressive in recruiting skill players in the transfer portal.<\/p>\n There’s also the possibility that Florida is more selective in the portal and relies on the development of its underclassmen.<\/p>\n Couple notes on Florida bringing back Napier. \u2014 Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
\nPer ESPN sources, 70-percent of Florida\u2019s NIL money is in freshman and sophomores. There\u2019s a feeling in the program that star freshman QB DJ Lagway is aligned with Napier, and Napier can grow this core of young players. pic.twitter.com\/SwKdmNSbKd<\/a><\/p>\n