What to watch for as Florida football begins Year 4 under Billy Napier as spring practice starts

As Florida football begins year four of spring practices under Billy Napier on Thursday, the roster is continuing to evolve as he envisioned.

There’s more depth, length and speed in all position groups, which Napier hopes will result in more success after the Florida Gators posted an 8-5 season in 2024.

“We got the right mix here, veteran example and rookies that are deciding to be here,” Napier said. “So, it’s a big, long, fast group, and seem to be getting along pretty good and working the right way.”

Florida will have 15 workouts in all, practicing each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday until the Orange and Blue game on April 12 at 1 p.m. at The Swamp. UF will take a week off for spring break from March 16-23.

Unlike other programs around the country, which chose to cancel or modify their spring games, Florida is planning to play a full spring game at this point.

Here are five storylines to watch for UF this spring:

How will Florida football DJ Lagway look taking the first-team reps in practice?

As an early enrollee last spring, Lagway took reps with the second team behind incumbent starter Graham Mertz. It’s Lagway’s team now, after he went 6-1 as a starter and led UF on a four-game win streak to close the season while Mertz was out with a torn ACL.

The 6-foot-3, 239-pound Lagway showed off a rifle arm in his first year as UF’s starting quarterback, averaging 16.7 yards per completion while connecting on six TD pass plays of 25 yards or more. Overall, Lagway passed for 1,215 yards with 12 TDs to nine interceptions in a successful freshman season. The big key for Lagway as a sophomore will center on continuing to cut down on his mistakes while establishing more of a dual-threat element to his game. Lagway rushed for just 101 yards with no TDs last season.

Can Florida football QB DJ Lagway establish chemistry with a new group…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/watch-florida-football-begins-4-090343876.html

Author : The Gainesville Sun

Publish date : 2025-03-05 09:03:00

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