By Jerry Ratcliffe
Former Florida starting quarterback DJ Lagway, fresh off a visit over the weekend to rival Florida State, is visiting Virginia tonight.
The 6-foot-3, 241-pound, dual-threat QB, planned to fly to Charlottesville on Monday evening to see what the Cavaliers have to offer. UVA is coming off an 11-3 season, most wins in program history, and a Gator Bowl victory over Missouri.
There has been no official word from the NCAA on Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris’ application for another year of eligibility, but with that decision up in the air, parlayed with backup QB Danny Kaelin entering the portal, the Cavaliers could be in dire need of an experienced leader at that position for 2026.
Lagway is ranked the 17th-best player overall at any position in the portal as of Monday afternoon and the seventh-best quarterback prospect.
He’s coming off a year at Florida when he passed for 2,264 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, completing 63.2 percent of his pass attempts. In his two years in Gainesville, Lagway threw for 4,179 yards, 28 TDs and 23 interceptions, along with 237 rushing yards and an additional score. His career completion percentage is 62 percent in 24 games.
A 5-star prospect out of Willis, Texas, where he was the top-ranked quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, Lagway was the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
While recruiting analysts noted that he would likely need a season to marinate, the Gators threw him into action as a true freshman when starter Graham Mertz was injured. Lagway started hot and appeared to have a bright future, but was slowed by offseason injuries, resulting in a sluggish start for a Florida team that went 4-8, with head coach Billy Napier getting fired. Napier is now the head coach at JMU.
Lagway said that Florida was reluctant to allow him to run the football this season, coming off injuries, but declared himself fit to become the dual-threat QB that he was his final year of high school, when he rushed for 957 yards and 11 TDs.
“I feel lille my past history of being dinged up, they didn’t really want to run me and have a chance to get hurt,” Lagway told The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper on Monday. “At the end of the season, I started running a little bit, but in the beginning, they just wanted to make sure I was good. Just cut the tape on, you’ll see it.”
Lagway said he left FSU “on cloud nine,” after meeting with Seminoles offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who told Laway he reminded him of Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy winner that Malzahn coached at Auburn. Lagway said he liked how Malzahn had cut up video of how he compared to Newton and how in depth Malzahn was in showing him how he would fit into Florida State’s offense.
Virginia coach Tony Elliott certainly could boast how he developed quarterbacks at Clemson, including Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson and Tajh Boyd, in addition to Anthony Colandrea and Chandler Morris at UVA.
“I think DJ is an extremely talented player,” FSU coach Mike Norvell, who has posted back-to-back losing seasons and a 7-17 record during that span, and has guided the Seminoles to four losing records over the past six years. “You see the arm talent, you see the size, you see the ability to extend plays. He’s a dangerous player to have to go against … he can make every throw.”
Lagway said he intends on taking his time to make a decision so that he lands in the right place. The transfer portal closes on Jan. 16.
