The Saturday storyline vs LIU everyone’s watching — and it’s not DJ Lagway (kind of)

It has been a long offseason since the Florida Gators last took the field against Tulane. Preseason polls are as high as they have ever been in the Billy Napier Era, but the constant rollercoaster of DJ Lagway's health has been an ominous backdrop to the past few months.

By most accounts, Lagway should be ready to go on Saturday against LIU. And while he is going to garner the bulk of the headlines, it's whoever actually comes in after Lagway that is going to be the real storyline Gator fans need to pay attention to.

Who follows DJ Lagway on Saturday?

We've mentioned several times on the site, but LIU is terrible even for an FCS team. If Florida is at all awake for this game, the Gators should be up by 35 at halftime.

So while Lagway needs all the live reps he can get after missing almost the entire offseason, at some point, he is going to come out assuming things are going well.

But who comes out second as the backup QB is still up in the air and might not get resolved for fans until Saturday.

Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey have been battling it out all offseason, with freshman Tramell Jones rapidly ascending and waiting in the wings.

Warner was QB2 for the spring game with Bailey as QB3, but those two have been swapping back and forth during fall camp. Based on reports, even Jones has gotten some reps as QB2 this fall.

If Lagway stays healthy all season, none of this really matters.

But given the suddenly lengthy list of non-contact injuries Lagway has racked up during his short time with the Gators, it is not a guarantee that Lagway makes it through all 12 games this year.

We all know Warner struggled last year in his appearances against Georgia and Texas, but also did not have a good day in the spring game.

Bailey comes in with some spot experience here and there, and his lone start for Louisville last year was a good one in addition to having a great spring game, but there is also a reason why he has been a career backup in college.

Jones is the mystery since we haven't been able to see much of him out in the open. Even though, for long-term planning, Jones is the guy Napier would want to get reps to, it's also hard to trust that he would get tapped this year as a true freshman if Lagway went down.

Yes, Lagway got tapped as a true freshman, but he's also DJ Lagway.

Because even if all three of the backups get work against LIU, the snap counts aren't going to lie with what Florida's long-term plans are.