Coronating a young, five-star quarterback feels a bit like skydiving.

There’s a rush of adrenaline. The promise of an exhilarating adventure. And because the stars are supposed to act as a nice, comfy parachute, the expectation is that you’ll have a nice landing.

But for every five-star quarterback success story, there are four or five tales of failure. You know the type — the guy who never took a meaningful snap in college. The player who had all the potential in the world, but for one reason or another, never panned out. Nowadays, it’s the story of the young man who doesn’t play in Year 1, hops in the transfer portal and goes from school to school, trying to recapture the skill set that made him a five-star in the first place.

If promoting a young, five-star signal-caller is indeed a lot like skydiving, DJ Lagway’s 2025 season ended in wicked splat.

Lagway showed real promise in 2024 after coming in for the injured Graham Mertz. He was unrefined and far from a finished product, but at least once or twice a game, he’d throw a dart that would make you think there’s something there.

In the lead-up to the 2025 season, the pressure was on for the sophomore to deliver. Head coach Billy Napier was on the ropes. The Gators had a behemoth of a schedule ahead. And because this is college football and this is the way things work, the plane was built entirely on the idea that Lagway would take a big leap. But then reality set in.

Lagway had a hellish 2025 campaign, perfectly encapsulated by his five-interception performance against No. 3 LSU. For those three and a half hours, he looked like a quarterback who couldn’t get out of his own way. He was seeing ghosts in every sense of the word. It was a tough watch.

Fast forward to the end of the 2025 season, and Gainesville looks nothing like it did just six months prior. Billy Napier got fired and replaced by former Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. Sumrall, in one of his first big calls as Gators’ head coach, effectively said “thanks but no thanks” to Lagway returning for his junior year. That led to Lagway entering the transfer portal, and after much deliberation, he eventually agreed to join Baylor, his father’s alma mater.

So what is Baylor getting in a quarterback like Lagway? Using Hudl IQ, I’ll break down Lagway’s 2025 season — identifying the traits that translate, the weaknesses that could hold him back and ultimately, how he might fit into what Baylor is hoping to do on offense.

Before I dive into Lagway’s disastrous 2025 season, I think it’s a worthwhile venture to examine how he played during the 2024 season. Two years ago, he was abruptly thrust into the spotlight after Graham Mertz went down with an injury.

In that 2024 sample size, Lagway showed flashes of top-tier talent, all while being an unfinished product.

Using Hudl IQ Player Radar Data, we can see that during the 2024 season, Lagway had some bright spots across his 490 plays.

Looking at the Traits Radar (left side), we can see that Lagway didn’t show off his legs very often, but that he did push the ball downfield pretty well, as evidenced by his 11.4 Air Yards/Attempt.

Looking at the Performance Radar (right side), we can see that his arm talent really stood out two seasons ago. He posted impressive Net Yards/Pass (9.3), Yards/Completion (16.6), Chunk % (27.8%) and Pass Explosive % (11.8%) figures. There were moments down the stretch of the season that he really displayed his deep threat abilities, so much so that one could argue that Lagway’s flashes were a big part in head coach Billy Napier returning for the 2025 season.

Now that I’ve established what Lagway did well in 2024, let’s take a look at his 2025 figures, where you’ll see a stark contrast year to year.

At first glance…wowzers, look at the difference between the radars! You don’t need to be a football genius to see the stark discrepancy between 2024 Lagway and 2025 Lagway.

Last season, he notched negative EPA/Play and EPA/Pass figures and remained below 65% in Completion %. On the surface, it was a step back in every sense of the word. But when you dig a little deeper, the year-to-year drop off paints a much darker, more vivid picture.

I mentioned that in 2024, one of the things that Lagway did well was create explosive plays and push the ball downfield. In 2025, however, those numbers cratered by a staggering amount.

2024 season

Net Yards per Pass: 9.3

Pass Success %: 46.30%

Completion %: 60.40%

Completion % Over Expectation: -5.80%

Yards per Completion: 16.6

Pass Chunk %: 27.80% Pass

Explosive %: 11.80%

2025 season

Net Yards per Pass: 6.4

Pass Success %: 44.20%

Completion %: 63.50%

Completion % Over Expectation: 4.10%

Yards per Completion: 10.7

Pass Chunk %: 15.90%

Pass Explosive %: 4.30%

The biggest YoY dips were:

These YoY dips paint a vivid picture. During his freshman year, Lagway was a quarterback who was pushing the ball down the field, creating big plays and, to a certain extent, was taking worthwhile risks to push the Gators’ offense forward.

But as a sophomore, something wasn’t clicking. Perhaps his lengthy offseason injury timeline played a factor. Maybe it was a bigger picture problem with the offense as a whole. But make no bones about it, in 2025, DJ Lagway played like a quarterback that was seeing ghosts, was afraid to take risks and was unable to push the ball down the field with any venom whatsoever.

An important thing to remember about quarterbacks is that they’re people too, just like the rest of us. Sometimes a change of scenery is just what someone needs to get back on track.

Sumrall’s “thanks but no thanks” decision to not bring Lagway back to Gainesville might be a massive blessing in disguise. Lagway was so out of sorts in 2025 and accumulated so much scar tissue, I think it was fair to question whether he could mentally bounce back for the Gators, much less win the fans over.

So, here’s the million-dollar question…how does Baylor get 2024 DJ Lagway and not 2025 DJ Lagway?

It probably starts with simplifying the offense. Without watching a ton of film or being in the building, it’s tough to know exactly what the Gators’ offensive staff was asking of Lagway last year. But if history repeats itself, Lagway will probably have a much easier time carrying out instructions in this Baylor offense.

Last season, the Bears were led by Sawyer Robertson, who lit up the Big 12. Robertson was criminally underrated on a national level. He singlehandedly pushed that offense forward and put up really strong numbers. Some of that production should be credited to Robertson. The other bit, perhaps, can go toward the Big 12-iness of the level of competition that Baylor plays week in and week out.

If Lagway works in Waco, it’s because the offense is simplified enough for him to get back to his roots. Making one or two reads and pushing the ball down the field when able. Lagway was at his best in 2025 when he was playing in rhythm and letting that thing rip. For his sake, I hope we see some of that in 2026 at Baylor.

If he doesn’t work in 2026, it’s likely because he’s built up too much bad QB scar tissue, is having a hard time putting the Florida woes behind him and is playing not to mess up instead of playing to win.

It’s early days, and playing the schedule game in February is a tough ask, but I like the look of the Bears’ schedule early on. Sure, the trip to Arizona State will be tough, but there are a lot of winnable games in the first two-thirds of that schedule. The back third is brutal, with games at BYU, against a loaded Texas Tech team and on the road against a returner-heavy Houston team. Hopefully by then, he’s fit, firing and can give Baylor a fighting chance down the stretch.

2026 will be a critical season for DJ Lagway, as well as for his new coach, Dave Aranda. Aranda was flirting with getting fired in 2025 — and I believe that he squandered some of the high-level quarterbackin’ Sawyer Robertson exhibited last season.

It would be a sight for sore eyes to see Lagway healthy and slingin’ the ball around against Big 12 defenses next season. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.