Predicting DJ Lagway's 2025 Season Totals

DJ Lagway is one of the larger enigmas of college football in 2025.

Some expect the Florida Gators rising sophomore to be in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony at year's end, while others view him as extremely overrated. Regardless, almost all will likely be watching the talented gunslinger every Saturday starting Aug. 30.

With an incredibly wide range of outcomes this year, predicting Lagway’s season will surely end comically erroneous one way or another. With that being said, here is Florida Gators on SI's official breakdown for Lagway's potential in 2025 with a final stat prediction given at the end.

Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway was limited in camp due to a calf injury but has since returned to practice in an 11-on-11 setting. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

A Dig Into the History

To understand a realistic outline for what Lagway’s 2025 season could look like, we first need to dive into the history of Gators quarterbacks in a Billy Napier-led offense.

In three years at Florida, Napier has seen three full time starters under center: Anthony Richardson, Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway. The Gators have had six different quarterbacks start a game.

Napier’s offense has averaged 28.7 points per game, 45 total touchdowns a year and 361 quarterback passing attempts per season. Florida has ranked no higher than 58th in total offense, never having a passer finish in the top 30 in yards in the country and have only thrown for over 3,000 yards in a season once as a team (2023).

Total Passing Averages in Napier’s tenure (per year):

Drop backs: 399
Starter drop backs: 361
Attempts: 361
Starters' attempts: 324
Starters' snaps: 90 percent
Yards: 2,929
TD: 19
INT: 9
Yards per attempt: 8.1
Games: 12.6

The Lagway Effect

With Lagway under center in 2024, Napier’s offense got a huge boost.

The Gators' 7.6 average yards per passing attempt under Napier, never finishing above 37th best in the country, rose to 9.8 with Lagway throwing the ball, which would have been second best in all of college football. Lagway's .061 touchdowns per pass attempt was .010 more than Florida’s average with Napier, adding one more touchdown pass per 100 Florida passing attempts.

DJ “Best Deep Ball in the Country” Lagway 🐊 pic.twitter.com/XvS0XTIptp
— Florida Gators 🐊🔥 (@gatorsszn) July 20, 2025

While the freshman saw 174 less dropbacks than on average for a Florida quarterback in a year, Lagway’s numbers over a normal season of usage as a Gators signal caller would have been the best under Napier Yet.

Lagway in 2024:

Drop backs: 225
Attempts: 196
Completions: 115
Completion percentage: 58.7
Yards: 1,915
TD: 12
INT: 9
Yards per attempt: 9.8
Yards per completion: 16.6
Games: 12

If this pace continued, spanning over the average 361 drop backs and 324 attempts a Gators’ starter sees throughout a year, Lagway would have been the first 3,000-yard passer since Kyle Trask and the first to ever throw for over that mark in a season under Napier spanning over his seven-year coaching career at UF and with the Louisiana. He would have finished 23rd in the nation in passing yards, a new high under Napier, and tied for 42nd in passing touchdowns.

Lagway’s 2024 Pace:

Dropbacks: 361
Attempts: 324
Yards: 3,165
TDs: 20
INTs: 15

In just his first year in college football, Lagway was on pace to transform Napier's offense in a way two now NFL quarterbacks, Richardson and Mertz, could not. While we only got a small sample size of what he could be, the expanded pace shows him being the best Florida quarterback since Kyle Trask.

Projecting Forward

With Lagway’s freshman numbers in mind, it is easy to project forward aggressively expecting a year-two leap. Working back to full-go in fall camp, the sophomore now has 120 SEC snaps under his belt and enters his second season with an impactful component of his game returning: his legs.

Additionally, Florida heads into the year expected to have one of the best offensive lines in the country, a group filled with returning talent, as well as an impressive running back room and multiple high potential pass catchers.

Considering the expectations of improvement along with the talent on offense, it shouldn’t be bold to expect a solid bump in the young passers' pace.

Lagway's 2025 Projections:

Games: 12
Drop backs: 370
Attempts: 333
Completions: 211
Completion: 63.4
Yards: 3,397
TDs: 21
INTs: 12
Yards per attempt: 10.2
Yards per completion: 16.1
Yards per game: 283

As mentioned above, these projections have Lagway taking some minor leaps heading into his second season under center.

In 2025, I predict his yards per attempt to jump from 9.8 to 10.2. Additionally, his interceptions per attempt drops somewhat substantially, from .045 to .036, with the expectation he becomes more comfortable and healthier next year. This number also aligns with his turnover worthy play mark given to him by PFF last season, which was seven throws or .035 per attempt.

His completion percentage notably jumps from 58.7 percent to 63.4 percent, a 4.7-point increase. This is after taking into account his 68.1 percent adjusted completion percentage given to him by PFF, reflecting on-target passes, and cut the 9.4 difference in half expecting positive regression.

Compared To the Country

In 2024, this projected stat line would have been one of the best in the sport.

Lagway’s projected 3,397 passing yards would have been fourth most in the SEC and 16th in the nation last year, while his 10.2 yards per attempt would have been second in the country. His 63.4 percent projected completion percentage would have been above the average for SEC starting quarterbacks, 62.1 percent, and his 21 passing touchdowns would have been tied for the fifth most in SEC and 26th in the country.

However, his 12 interceptions would still have been tied for worst in SEC and fourth worst in the nation.

Heisman Hopes

With Lagway having some Heisman Trophy hype heading into the season, the question becomes whether these numbers put him in the running.

Since 2021, 12 quarterbacks have been named Heisman finalists, with eight of the 12 having more passing yards than where Lagway is projected, and 11 having more touchdowns and all having less interceptions. The average stat line for a Heisman finalist quarterback in those years is 3,671 yards, 34 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway has Heisman hype surrounding him entering 2025. | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

His projected numbers would really only be outright better than those of Stetson Bennett, who finished fourth in voting in 2021 and received just 349 of the 4,339 combined votes by the top-four candidates. Bennett finished the regular season throwing for 3,156 yards and 16 touchdowns, yet had just six interceptions.

Altogether, though a great sophomore year, it is highly unlikely finishing with these numbers puts Lagway in New York for the Heisman ceremony, but it isn’t necessarily impossible. Just last season, Dillon Gabriel was selected as a finalist with a modest 3,272 yards, 24 touchdowns and six picks.

Final Line

For his true sophomore season, I project DJ Lagway to attempt 333 passes, racking up 3,397 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

I believe this stat line solidifies Lagway as one of the best quarterbacks in college football, leading Florida to a possible playoff berth and a top five SEC finish. While his numbers may not be enough to put him in the Heisman race, nor jump off the page, they reflect an elite quarterback in a Billy Napier-specific offense.

As Lagway enters the year with a very wide range of outcomes, I could see these numbers being much too low or high when we reach the end of the year. Regardless, I believe the Gators' gunslinger takes a huge step in the upcoming season, putting Florida in playoff contention.