Florida Gators Snubbed in ESPN Top Newcomers List

ESPN released a list of top newcomers to their respective teams in college football, and the list should have included Chimere Dike and DJ Lagway.

Florida Gators wide receiver Chimere Dike has been a big addition to the offense and special teams since transferring from Wisconsin. / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Hindsight being 20/20, it looks as though many in the national media dropped the ball when it comes to Florida Gators freshman DJ Lagway and transfer wide receiver Chimere Dike. This week ESPN+ rolled out their list of the most impactful newcomers in college football at midseason. 

These players arrived as either transfers or freshmen. Neither Lagway nor Dike made the list. No University of Florida player made the list, and that rather boggles the mind. In the case of Lagway, it seems like a major oversight, an omission that renders some of the rather irrelevant.

Make it Make Sense

Lagway arrived at Florida on January 7, 2024, as an early enrollee. That means, he graduated high school early, just to join the team and get up to speed and begin his academic career. Granted, many believed that Graham Mertz would remain the starter going into the season. 

Dd ESPN really expect Lagway, a five-star recruit to burn a year of eligibility just by carrying a clipboard. Lagway, according to multiple recruiting sites stood as the third-best player, regardless of position in the country. 

More importantly, many consider him the best 2024 recruiting class quarterback in the entire nation. How does ESPN miss this? In a part-time role, Lagway has completed 47 of 72 passes for 765 yards, a healthy 16.2-yards-per completion, and five touchdowns. A starting quarterback that make the Tennessee defense sweat like Patrick Ewing in the 1997 playoffs, and the network omits Lagway?

Dike has caught 19 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns. Furthermore, he's second FBS in punt return average with a 19.6-yard average.

Who Made the List?

Instead of a "who's who", the list resembles a "who's this?" Venturing from bottom up, Texas Tech wideout Josh Kelly sits at No. 46. Kelly, a sixth-year transfer, playing for his third school, stars for Tech, who owns victories over Abilene Christian and North Texas. 

Three touchdowns that ties for second place on the team. Or, Jordan Clark, a cornerback transfer, playing for Notre Dame. Neither of these players, on any level, by any metric should allow them to sit on this list ahead of either Lagway or Dike.

Overview

Lagway and Chimere Dike play football for the love of the game, the potential lucrative career and the education along the way. However, in this time and space, where media arms that cover the game should read the landscape better. 

Did ESPN write Florida off before the season and expect a nightmare scenario to unfurl during the season? If so, wouldn't a re-examination of what qualifies players for the list. Granted, this current version of Florida may not readily resemble the Spurrier/Meyer era of Gators football. 

However, Lagway and Dike lead an offense that continues to grind versus SEC competition, not Big 12 also-rans that couldn't burst a grape in fruit fight. Now in a full-time role for the Gators, Lagway is going to awfully tough to ignore moving forward.

Regardless of the list that omitted them, DJ Lagway and Chimere Dike make plays.

Film does not lie, even if convoluted lists do.