Florida football returns on Aug. 30 when the Gators host the Long Island Sharks, which means it’s time for Gators Wire’s annual position preview series.
The quarterbacks kick things off, and everyone knows who is at the top of the list. Sophomore starter DJ Lagway is primed to join the nation’s elite at the position after getting a taste of the action as a freshman. With no one ahead of him on the depth chart, it’s all about staying healthy for Lagway.
Billy Napier saw what happens when injuries hit the quarterback room hard a year ago, and he made it a priority to reload the position room behind Lagway over the offseason. Stealing a commitment from Florida State and landing a veteran backup in the transfer portal did the trick, plus Aidan Warner returns with far more experience than last year (and a scholarship).
Graham Mertz is the most notable departure from Florida’s quarterback room, but walk-ons Paul Kessler and Lawrence Wright IV are both gone as well. Likely casualties of the roster rule change, neither spent a full year with the team.
Starter: No. 2 DJ Lagway (So.)
Lagway has already become a national brand in the college football world, appearing in national commercial campaigns for Gatorade and T-Mobile, but he’s still very green on the field. Yes, the former five-star recruit played in 12 games as a true freshman, but he wasn’t handed the reins until Mertz went down with an injury against Tennessee.
Florida won all six games that Lagway started and finished — Samford, Kentucky, LSU and Ole Miss in The Swamp, a dominant road win over Florida State and a blowout win against Tulane at the Gasparilla Bowl. He completed 84 of 139 passes for 1,559 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions over those six games.
A large chunk of the stats came in his lone start before Mertz’s injury against Samford. He set a program record among freshmen with 456 yards and three touchdowns. Later on in the year, he led Florida to a pair of upsets against ranked teams (LSU and Ole Miss) and delivered the first 300-yard passing game in Gasparilla Bowl history.
Lagway is perhaps the top deep-ball passer (20 yards or more) in the college game. Pro Football Focus has him atop its deep passing rankings (2026-28 draftees, not including freshmen) with a 95.6 grade. It’s apparent that Lagway possesses the raw talent to be a Heisman contender and first-round pick, but he has to stay on the field to continue developing.
The injury bug is the only major red flag for Lagway coming into the 2025 campaign. He had core, hamstring and shoulder issues last year, and the fall has brought a calf injury to the table. Lagway is out of the boot after missing the first two days of fall training camp, and he threw publicly for the first time later on in the week. If he stays healthy, Lagway will be among the most dangerous dual threats in the SEC.
Backup: No. 15 Harrison Bailey (Gr.)
Whether Bailey ends up the backup to Lagway is yet to be determined, but that’s the role Napier had in mind when he brought over the sixth-year graduate student from Louisville.
A former four-star recruit ranked inside the top 100 nationally, Bailey started his career with the Tennessee Volunteers. The COVID pandemic affected his integration process with the team, but he still took over a starting role in the second half of the 2020 season. He put up solid numbers, completing 48 of 68 passes for 578 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Then, Josh Heupel took over the program and buried Bailey behind Joe Milton and Hendon Hooker. Bailey announced his intent to transfer by October 2021 and landed at UNLV. Despite already spending two years at the college level, Bailey retained all four years of eligibility thanks to the freebie granted to everyone in 2020 and a redshirt in 2021. He spent his redshirt freshman season backing up Doug Brumfield, seeing the field in six games. He finished the year with a modest 318 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 30-of-58 passing.
Bailey went back to the transfer portal after head coach Marcus Arroyo was fired. He gave it a shot with new coach Barry Odom, but spring practice made it apparent he was still behind Brumfield on the depth chart. A late entry forced him to join a crowded quarterbacks room in Louisville as a preferred walk-on. He only saw the field for a single drive in 2023 and spent 2024 as a backup.
Bailey’s lone start since the 2020 season at Tennessee came in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns in the 35-34 win.
To say things haven’t gone according to plan for Bailey would be an understatement. Blue-chip prospects are supposed to play more than 350 snaps over five seasons. However, he’s as strong an option as it gets for emergency backups. Spending five years bouncing from team to team means he’s adaptable, and Bailey has performed fairly at worst whenever given the ball.
Backup/Reserve: No. 16 Aidan Warner (R-So.)
A year ago, Aidan Warner landed in the “walk-ons” category at the bottom of this list. Clay Millen looked like the more likely option to come in if both Mertz and Lagway went down, but it was Warner, a Yale transfer, who got the call. It wasn’t pretty. Warner completed 21 of 50 pass attempts for 228 yards and three interceptions. Half of those attempts and two picks game during the Texas game, when he stepped in for an injured Lagway.
Warner looked a bit sharper during the Orange and Blue game, completing 10 of 23 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
“Aidan, in particular, has taken a big step in the right direction,” Napier said ahead of fall camp.
Warner could beat out Bailey for the backup job, but another year in the third-string role feels more likely.
Reserves: No. 18 Clay Millen (R-Sr.) and No. 17 Tramell Jones Jr. (Fr.)
Millen Stats:
Millen losing the third-string battle to Warner last year came as a surprise, but expectations are more managed heading into 2025. The former Colorado State signal caller didn’t see the field at all last year and failed to take a snap during the spring game. Of the scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, Millen might be the last option, including freshman Tramell Jones Jr.
A four-star signee out of Mandarin, Jones flipped his commitment from Florida State to Florida at the last minute. He hasn’t been completely healthy until now, but he’s already receiving praise from Napier and his teammates. He led a drive during the Orange and Blue Game, completing two of three passes for 30 yards.
“I personally think Tramell is going to be a great football player,” All-American center Jake Slaughter said. “The way he can move around in the pocket, the way he can get loose outside. His scramble drill, and it’s a bomb. … He works his tail off. He takes things seriously. You see him in a walkthrough, and it’s a game-day rep for him. So I’ve been very impressed.”
Through 34 varsity games at Mandarin High, Jones completed 451 of 760 passes (59.3 percent) for 7,197 yards with 75 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Expect him to redshirt, but he can still play in up to four games.
Walk-On: Aaron Williams (R-Fr.)
Florida used to carry multiple walk-on quarterbacks on its roster, but it’s just Aaron Williams this year after the NCAA effectively did away with the distinction. A rule change limits teams to a 105-man roster, scholarship or walk-on, so those extra practice players are no longer in abundance.
That makes it more notable that Williams chose Florida despite holding a scholarship offer from Bethune-Cookman in 2024. He threw for more than 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior at Winter Park High.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: 2025 Florida Gators Position Preview: Quarterbacks
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
