Almost every preview of the offense for the Florida Gators in 2025 starts and ends with DJ Lagway. The star QB has all the tools needed to unlock Billy Napier's offense and make Florida one of the more feared units in the country.
But as ESPN analyst Greg McElroy points out, there is another pathway the Gators have to move the ball in 2025 that not nearly as many national pundits have been talking about.
Florida Gators need to run the Baugh
During his podcast Always College Football, McElroy said that if Florida's run game is elite, anything is possible for the Gators:
"So much of the conversation surrounding Florida is about the schedule. What people are not talking enough about is how good they might be along both the offensive and defensive lines. That's a great starting point in this league. The offensive line returns depth, they return talent, and they return an identity.
It's going to be a team that runs the football. They might hand the ball off to Jaden Baugh 25, 30 times in the game. They're running back at 230 pounds. It's going into his second year. They can also spell him. They've got great depth at running back.
This is going to be a team that is a ground-and-pound outfit, which is going to allow the talent of DJ Lagway to come to the forefront. Their quarterback's phenomenal. He's especially good on the downfield throws.
And if they run the ball the way I anticipate them running the football, that's going to help their defense tremendously, and it's going to force a lot of teams to be very cognizant when it comes to stopping the run.
You know what's good for a quarterback? When teams are thinking about the run game, boom, heavy play action, throw it over the top, strike up the fight song for the Florida Gators. Florida's going to be a problem. Oh my God!"
Enough about the schedule…
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) July 22, 2025
If the run game is elite, @GatorsFB will be SCARY in 2025 🐊 #GoGators pic.twitter.com/BLoedtLUVC
Florida's running game over the years
Florida's run game in 2022, Napier's first season in Gainesville, was one of the best run games in the country. Florida was 14th in the country in 2022 in yards per run, averaging 5.3 yards per run.
This number dipped to 72nd in the country in 2023 before rising back up to 51st in 2024.
With a deep stable of running backs and an offensive line that returns four starters, it's not impossible to envision Florida jumping back into the top 25 in yards per run in 2025, especially if defenses are paranoid about getting beat over the top by Lagway.
But even if Florida does have a potent running game, it has to find a way to disguise it better in third-down situations. Florida has yet to crack the top 60 in points per game during the Billy Napier Era, and a huge reason why has been third-down conversions.
In 2022, despite being 14th in yards per run, the Gators were just 47th in third-down conversions. In 2023, they ranked 100th in third-down conversions and showed only marginal improvement in 2024, finishing 87th.
If the Gators can find a good balance and find ways to mix up their tendencies, then their run game does have a pathway to carry Florida to the playoffs and beyond.