The 2025 Florida Gators are in the rear-view mirror and most fans are thankful for that. It was a group marked by underachievement that led to the dismissal of Billy Napier. While this might all turn out to be addition by subtraction, 2025 Gators football was still a thing that happened.
Here are three players that let the fans down in 2025:
DJ Lagway, quarterback
Where do we start here? This was supposed to be Lagway's breakthrough year. The year that he solidifed himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the country, a legitimate Heisman contender and a future first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Instead, the offseason was tumultuous and filled with questions about his injuries and if he was going to get surgery or not. And how this lack of time throwing and practicing with his teammates was going to affect him and the Gators offense. Lagway and the Gators offense just never seemed to get off the ground and the quarterback regressed. How much of this was on him and how much was on Billy Napier's mismanagement of him remains an active debate. What isn't up for debate is that Lagway had a disappointing season and showed terrible body language most of the season. Lagway entered the transfer portal and teased a defection to Florida State before deciding he would play the 2026 season at Baylor. How he does with the Bears may answer a lot of questions.
Aidan Mizell, wide receiver
There were enough injuries in the Gators wide receiver room, notably Dallas Wilson, to where Mizell had an opportunity to really step up and be a top playmaker in the pass game. Instead, he also dealt with the injury bug throughout the season and never got into a groove. In a year when Mizell could've improved his numbers, he had a slight down tick from the previous season. Mizell transferred to UCLA after the season.
KD Daniels, running back
Daniels was in a similar position to Mizell where it looked like he could take a jump forward and be an impact player for the Gators offense as a sophomore. When Ja'Kobi Jackson went down in the Miami game with an upper-body injury, Daniels had an opening to create a dynamic running back rotation with Jadan Baugh, but, figuratively speaking, he never took the ball and ran — at least not as much as it should have. Daniels had 120 yards on 28 carries this season and transferred to Wake Forest.