Florida Gators Depth Chart Predictions/Position Previews: Quarterbacks

Graham Mertz is the starting quarterback for the Florida Gators, but how much can freshman phenom DJ Lagway get involved?

Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) and Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz (15) line up during fall football practice. / Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

With the Florida Gators 2024 fall camp concluding and attention turned to the season-opener against Miami, it’s time to take a look at the Gators’ depth chart.

Gators Illustrated gives its official prediction and a preview for each position group, beginning with the quarterbacks. 

Depth Chart Prediction

Starter: Graham Mertz
Backup: DJ Lagway

Reserves (*denotes walk-on): Clay Millen, Aidan Warner*, Paul Kessler*, Lawrence Wright IV*

Position Outlook

It took four years, but the Gators finally have an incumbent starter at quarterback. Sixth-year senior Graham Mertz returns as one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country. 

Stats-wise, Mertz had a career-year in 2023 after putting up bests in yards (2903), touchdowns (20), interceptions (three) and completion percentage (72.9), the last of which also set a UF record. 

It wouldn’t have been a surprise for him to take a chance on the NFL, but Mertz didn’t want to use UF as a one-year stepping stone. For him, it was a chance to revamp his career after inconsistency at Wisconsin. 

“I care about this place. This place gave me a second chance in college, they put in so much time, energy, effort into developing me as a player, as a person, that I've said it before and I'll say it again, I feel like I owe this place everything I got,” he said. “And I didn't just come back here to boost my draft stock. I came back to win.”

This year, he’s expected to do much of the same and then some. At this point last year, Mertz was still getting comfortable in the offense. Now, his confidence is through the roof, and it’s paying dividends as the clearcut leader of the team. 

“At this point last year I was still trying to figure out small details and small checks, alerts, stuff like that. With all these new things you think about the coach to player, all the different aspects of that,” Mertz said. “Now you’re going to work on those extra details and stuff like that that’s going to come up in games. Instead of focusing on what’s my job on this play. It’s already second nature at that point. Now, it’s spreading it to everyone else.”

Backing Mertz up is arguably the top quarterback recruit in the 2024 recruiting class in DJ Lagway, who will be expected to take on a big role in the offense despite a backup position on the depth chart. 

So far, Lagway has had a solid fall camp, which includes a two-touchdown performance in the first scrimmage, but there’s still some development to be had. 

“The padding that the quarterback is required to do all throughout the summer. You know, he just jumped into that for the first time and I think he made tremendous growth, his knowledge of defense, yeah, and I think he's improved fundamentally, too,” said UF head coach Billy Napier. “I think the ball’s coming out more consistently, his feet have been polished up. He’s getting better.”

In Mertz’s eyes, Lagway’s mental poise has stood out. 

“Yeah, he’s big, he’s 240, can move, and can make any throw on the field,” he explained. “The biggest thing is his humility and his approach. I think that’s the biggest thing as a young player. If you can have that you can grow faster because you’re being real with yourself. What can I get better at right now? And focus in on that and growing a little bit every day. I think it’s his day-to-day just humility in what he does that’s going to help him skyrocket.”

At the moment, it’s unclear just how the quarterback rotation will work in-season, but many have pointed out the comparison between Mertz and Lagway to that of Chris Leak and Tim Tebow in 2006. That season ended in a National Championship for the Gators.

Napier hasn’t given any hints, either, but he has emphasized the need for this year’s offense to create explosive plays while limiting turnovers. 

Limiting the turnovers seems to be the easier part. Mertz played relatively risk-free football last season, and the expectation is for Lagway to not be put in a position where mistakes are prevalent. 

In the Gators’ two fall camp scrimmages, Napier has made it a point to take shots down the field in line with his offensive goals for this season. It wasn’t something Mertz did much last season, and it’s still something he and Lagway have been working on during fall camp. 

“We had some explosives, we did,” Napier said of the Gators’ second scrimmage. “I do think the defense did a better job limiting explosives, but there’s no question that we had some throughout. We know turnover margin and explosives are critical factors relative to winning. We want to be intentional about trying to do that.”

However, it doesn’t come down to just the quarterbacks. Florida revamped its receivers room with multiple returning players, led by Eugene Wilson III, and an influx of newcomers, led by Mertz’s former Wisconsin teammate Chimere Dike and former Arizona State receiver Elijhah Badger. 

Not to mention, Florida has changed almost its entire offensive line, with tackle Austin Barber and center Jake Slaughter the only returning starters at their respective positions. However, Mertz sang the praises of the new group citing better communication and better strength and conditioning within the unit. 

“I think we brought in some great pieces. These other guys we brought in in the portal, young bucks, are stepping into that role. I think you see it through our strength training throughout the winter and the summer,” Mertz said. “Guys truly changed their bodies. That’s the biggest thing I see. I look up there and I’m like holy crap, these guys are huge and they can bend.”

The cohesiveness of the entire offense will play a role in creating explosive plays, but it’ll be up to Mertz and Lagway to deliver the football. 

Another new aspect to the quarterback room will be in-helmet communication. Coaches will have 15 seconds to get the play in before the radio goes mute. Mertz explained the benefit to the new system last week.

“I think that’s the cool thing about the in-helmet communication is you can use it in so many different ways,” Mertz said. “You can slow the game down, you can huddle up. You can speed it up when you need to. There’s so many different ways you can utilize it. Of course, that’s been an emphasis for us going into camp, throughout camp, is just pushing our pace. Getting up to the ball and getting set.”

It’s even helping Lagway in his early development. 

“You eliminate a language that he has to learn basically. It’s like hey, not only do you have to learn this verbal language, you’ve gotta learn sign language too. I think it’s sped up his development,” Napier said.

Looking at the overall quarterback room, it’s certainly in a better spot than 2023 with a more experienced Mertz and a talented Lagway leading the way. Of course, only time will truly tell just how effective the two are, but there’s no reason why fans, coaches and players shouldn’t feel confident in this unit going into 2024.