Florida Football QB DJ Lagway named as one of the best returning players in 2025

It seems like just about every day, the name DJ Lagway flashes across a college football headline, and for good reason.

After taking the helm following an injury to veteran quarterback Graham Mertz, the star freshman threw for over 1000 yards and led the Gators to various notable wins, including an upset over Ole Miss and a win in the Gasparilla Bowl.

The hype continues to grow for the former five-star recruit, who showed freshman flashes of former college football legends during his campaign.

One of the best returning players in college football

Lagway has added another way-too-early accolade to his collection, this time coming from On3's Ari Wasserman. Wasserman named Lagway as the third-best returning player in college football. The list includes fellow young stars including Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State defensive back Caleb Downs, and Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams. Lagway only ranks behind Smith and Downs, who both claimed national championships with the Buckeyes, just over a week ago.

Lagway's ranking of third is the highest among all quarterbacks, topping Texas quarterback Arch Manning and Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt. You can see the entire list here.

The level of his importance

Lagway was undoubtedly the most promising part of a team in which just about everything went wrong at some point. As a starter, he won all games but one, which coincidentally was the game he left with an injury before even finishing the first half.

The narrative appears to be nationwide, as Wasserman wrote in his explanation for including Lagay in his list: "There is no question you’ll find more accomplished players on this list, but you could make the case that Lagway is the most important player to his team in college football.

Though there are undoubtedly things he needs to work on, it was evident from the second he stepped on the field at Florida that he has a chance to be one of the great ones. His potential is so high, in fact, that he could be the get out of jail free card that eventually leads to Billy Napier being the Gators coach into the future. Lagway is big, strong, physical and has a rocket arm. This may seem too high right now, but it’ll become clear early in the season next year that he’s one of the most sensational talents in our sport."

The Gators will return to action on August 30th, when they will welcome the Long Island Sharks to Gainesville.