SEC Media Days will give an update that Gator fans have waited for on DJ Lagway

Billy Napier will be joined by Florida stars and key players, Caleb Banks (DL), Jake Slaughter (OL), and Quarterback, DJ Lagway.
Florida Orange & Blue Spring Game
Florida Orange & Blue Spring Game | James Gilbert/GettyImages

Will DJ Lagway be healthy enough for the fall kickoff game? This and more will be answered by Gators representatives at SEC Media Day on July 16th

SEC Media Days kicks off on Monday at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt kick things off on Monday. Tuesday follows with Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas. And then the big day for the Gator Nation is Wednesday, July 16th, when Billy Napier and the Gators take the mic (along with Alabama, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma) to answer key questions many have surrounding the 2025-26 season.

Florida Gators announce SEC Media Day participants

The Southeastern Conference on Tuesday announced the players who will represent each club. Billy Napier will be joined by Florida stars and key players, Caleb Banks (DL), Jake Slaughter (OL), and the starting quarterback with a big question looming, DJ Lagway.

When the Gators hit the mic on Wednesday at 1:00PM, Napier and Lagway will be posed with the question of just how serious the “injury” Lagway was dealing with back in April that kept him out of the annual Gators’ spring game? Was this just a shoulder and lower-body issue that he was able to work around or deal with? Was this his old high school injury resurfacing, indicating that he never fully recovered? And with surgery a possibility at season’s end, just how well will Lagway be able to throw and work his way around the field? 

With a crucial do-or-die season on the table for Napier and the Gators, a key piece of being successful will be Lagway’s ability to stay healthy and produce on the field.

Lagway played in 12 games in 2024. He ran for 101 yards, with his longest rush being a 25-yard run. He threw for 1,915 yards, including 115 completions on 192 attempts, and threw for 12 touchdowns. He was a key player in Florida’s 2024-25 success that left Gators’ fans feeling hopeful for the upcoming season. That was before Lagaway’s injury this past spring. 

When Billy Napier and the Gators meet with the media next Wednesday, you can be sure the health of Lagway will be a question that is posed.

Napier and Lagway will be joined by Banks (DL) and Slaughter (OL) as well.

Banks is a redshirt senior who had 21 tackles in 2024 (10 solo tackles). That included seven tackles-for-loss, 4 ½ sacks, two forced fumbles, and a recovered fumble in ten starts.

Slaughter is a 294lb redshirt senior from Trinity Catholic. He was a team captain in 2024, earned AP All-American First Team, AP All-SEC First Team, ESPN All-American Team, PFF All-American First Team, 247Sports/ CBS Sports All-American Second Team, CFN All-American Second Team, Phil Steele Fourth-Team All-American, and was a USA Today All-SEC First Team in 2024.

He started all 13 games for the Gators last year and led the offensive line in snaps with 800. He had a 83.9 pass block grade, ranked fifth among centers with an offensive grade of 81.1 along with a run block grade of 79.

The Gators appear at SEC Media Day next Wednesday. 

SEC Media days will conclude next Thursday with Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas A&M.

The Florida Gators’ 2025 season opens on August 30th at 7PM against Long Island at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.