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DJ Lagway Injury Scare Not the Only Red Flag for Billy Napier's Florida Gators in 2025

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Utsav Khanna | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 8:16 PM ET

Billy Napier and Florida Gators are seriously dependant on DJ Lagway to succeed this season. Even last year, he chimed in when they really needed a miracle to bring the season back from the dead.

ESPN college football's insider Greg McElroy believes Gators' will face their "worst case scenario" if DJ Lagway is not regularly and optimally available to play for them. But outside his concerns, there's another threat looming on the team.

Gators face the much-talked about gruelling schedule. Again, they were partially able to survive it last year. But this year is a whole new story.

Breaking down the worst case scenario for Gators on Always College Football, Greg McElroy said, "The brutal schedule eventually takes its toll. Last year, it didn't. They got stronger as the season went along and started to win some of those games down the stretch that you thought they might be out of gas in... ...But this year, they have one of the hardest schedules in college football."

Gators kick off their season against relatively easy opponents, Long Island and South Florida, in week 1 and week 2 respectively. But this is just the silence before the potential storm. The first two games are followed by four brutal match ups for Florida starting with LSU, followed by Miami, Texas and finally Texas A&M.

According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Florida is set to finish 6-6 owing to their difficult schedule. But Greg McElroy sees them overcoming all of these odds given their tremendous momentum from last year's final stretch.

Gators were able to garner impact wins with DJ Lagway at the centre. The win against Ole Miss could serve as a morale booster as it resulted it Lane Kiffin's Rebels missing the playoff.

DJ Lagway is still limited in practice but he still has two more months to recover from his injury. And since he was leading the team for the better part of last season, he will not have early pains like a starter would have had.

Florida Gators kick off their season against LIU on August 30, 2025 on ESPN+.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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