Billy Napier responds to questions about potentially starting DJ Lagway over Graham Mertz
Star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway appeared in replacement for the injured Graham Mertz against Samford. After playing well in the win, he left Florida head coach Billy Napier with a decision to make at the quarterback position.
After the game, Napier responded to questions about potentially starting Lagway over Mertz, explaining that he sees that as more of a hypothetical.
“That’s a hypothetical question,” Billy Napier said. “We’re going to enjoy this game tonight. We’re going to go back and watch the tape. We’ve got a good young quarterback, and we have an incredible veteran quarterback as well. So it’s a good thing for our current team and the future of the program to some degree.”
Graham Mertz transferred to Florida ahead of the 2023 season from Wisconsin and has been the team’s starter since. In his first full season at Florida, he completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 2,903 yards and 20 touchdowns. However, he struggled in Week 1 before leaving that loss with a concussion.
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There is a lot of excitement for the future around DJ Lagway. He came to Florida as a five-star recruit and the third-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. It’s a small sample size, but he looked good against Samford, throwing for 456 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-7 win.
“Look, I think we have the makings of a really good football team. I think that, if we can play complementary ball and we can play good defense, good offense, good in the kicking game, we’ve got a chance to have a good team. This group of players is very disappointed with how they performed in week 1, and it’s personal to them. I think that they’re on a mission to prove that all this work that they’ve been doing, and that was not who they want to be. I think it’s been a tough week in that regard. Maybe that gives us the spark that we need to prepare the right way, to start fast, to bring energy,” Napier said.
“But there’s no doubt the level of competition that we’re getting ready to face over the next couple of weeks will be completely different. They understand that. We understand that. Ultimately we’ve got to have a good week of prep. We’ve got a chance to be in The Swamp next week again at 3:30.”
The schedule does get tougher from here with SEC play starting next week against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Billy Napier was also asked if there was a chance Mertz could permanently lose the job due to his injury. Napier took that question as a chance to praise Lagway and share that the team will have a plan for him moving forward.
“I just think it proves what we thought in the beginning. This guy was a Gatorade National Player of the Year. He’s one of the best players in the entire country, and he had the opportunity to play the entire game today, and he is who we thought he was,” Napier said.
“We’re going to stay the course, and much like we described in the beginning, we’ll have a plan for DJ every week going forward.”