Florida Gators' Future is Bright: DJ Lagway Leads a Promising New Era with Top Recruiting Haul and Big Commitments
The Florida Gators football team has officially wrapped up an 8-5 2024 season. In spite of their record, there is an incredible amount of optimism surrounding the program's future. The main reason for this optimism is true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway. The 6’3 240 pound quarterback from Willis Texas went 6-1 as a starter with notable wins against LSU and Ole Miss.
Lagway was ranked the number three player in the 2024 class and the number one quarterback. He threw for 4,605 yards and 59 touchdowns while running for 953 yards and 16 touchdowns during his senior year of high school. His monster senior season at Willis High School earned him 2023 Gatorade National Player of The Year honors.
There was a noticeable difference from the Gators when Lagway was on the field versus when he wasn't. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin noticed the difference during their loss to the Gators.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team play so different based off of a quarterback, where they go from him to the next guy, said Kiffin, usually that affects your offense. It seems to affect their whole team, like gives their team hope. They play much different when he’s there.”
Not only has Lagway shown the ability to be a difference maker in the field, but he has also proven to be a weapon off the field as multiple five star high school receivers have committed to play with Lagway and the Gators next year. One of those commits is Dallas Wilson who shocked the college football world by requesting a release on his financial aid papers from Oregon just ten days after signing with them to sign with Florida. Lagway also played a pivotal role in Florida signing five star receiver Vernell Brown III from Orlando, Florida.
With Wilson and Brown both being top 10 ranked receivers in the 2025 class, Florida has set themselves up to surround Lagway with weapons for the future. Four star Neshaun Montgomery rounds out the star studded 2025 receiver class for Florida. Wilson, Brown, and Montgomery all rank inside the top 20 on the ESPN 300 rankings for the 2025 receiver class.
Although those two guys may not make an immediate impact, the gators have been active in the transfer portal early into the offseason. 6’3 wide receiver transfer J. Michael Sturdivant from UCLA has already committed to play next year at Florida with one year of eligibility left. Former five star receiver Johntay Cook from the University of Texas has also set a visit to the swamp. Cook had a tot of 16 receptions for 273 years and two touchdowns in his two years with a stacked Texas receiver room.
With two timely wins against LSU AND ole Miss, Florida was able to flip a total of eight recruits who were committed to other programs. Of the eight, three were committed to in-state rival Florida State before flipping to Florida. The commitment flips landed Florida with a top 10 recruiting class, which was previously outside of the top 20.
The 2025 class features thirteen guys on the ESPN top 300 rankings. Five of the 12 appear inside of the top 100 on the list.
Although the Gators are shaping out to be a young team in 2025, they will have veteran leadership from returners such as Eugene “Tre” Wilson. Wilson was the second leading receiver as a Freshman in 2023 behind first round NFL draft pick Ricky Pearsall. Wilson had an injury riddled 2024 season, but the explosive Junior receiver looks for a breakout 2025 season.
True freshman Jadan Baugh broke out and led the team in rushing in 2024 with 673 yards and seven touchdowns, five of those coming against Kentucky in a 48-20 win.
The future looks bright for the Gators with players like Lagway, Wilson, and Baugh to pair with the talented 2025 class.
Mason Garcia
DiSportsPhotoAgency
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