TALLAHASSEE — Florida State hosted Florida transfer quarterback DJ Lagway for a visit on Monday. When Lagway, who was accompanied by his father wrapped up the trip, he shared his thoughts about his time around his former rival.

A full Q&A with Lagway can be found below or by clicking here.

The 6-foot-3, 247-pound signal-caller spent time on the visit with head coach Mike Norvell, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, and more.

Following his visit to FSU, he was set to travel to Charlottesville, Va. to check out Virginia. Other visits are a possibility, though he was non-committal on Monday about destinations.

The Willis, Texas native has two years of starting experience over his first two collegiate seasons, both of which came at Florida. He entered the starting lineup at Florida midway through his freshman campaign in 2024 and helped spark a remarkably unexpected run for a program that seemed to be on borrowed time under its then coach, Billy Napier. Florida went 6-1 under Lagway to close out that season, as he threw for 1,915 yards on 115-of-192 passing (59.9%) and 12 touchdowns to nine interceptions while rushing 51 times for 101 yards. While the efficiency wasn’t impressive, his ability to push the ball vertically and deliver high-level throws unlocked the offense.

But Lagway, dealing with a mysterious injury, took a sizable step back as a sophomore this past season. As the full-time starter, Lagway completed 213-of-337 pass attempts (62%) for 2,264 yards and 16 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. He gained 244 yards on the ground over 51 rushing attempts, while taking steps back as an explosive passer while being more dangerous with the football. Napier was fired mid-season.

His Big Time Throw Rate dropped from 8.8 percent to 3.4 percent. His Turnover Worthy Play Rate got worse, going from 3.0 percent to 4.5 percent. Yards Per Attempt plummeted from 9.5 to 6.9. The average Depth of Target also fell notably from 11.9 yards downfield to 8.3. And his Sack Rate was worse, going from 5.5 percent to 6.2 percent despite attempting shorter throws.

FSU head coach Mike Norvell spoke highly of Lagway, while explaining the QB’s struggles, before the matchup this past season.

“I think DJ is an extremely talented player. There’s challenges that show up. I know he had the injury in the off-season, and people just want to turn on the film, press play, and it always go exactly how you want it to, but there’s real life that happens. When you miss an off-season, you have difficult situations, some of the pressures that jump onto expectations and what you think it will be and what it should look like. 

“All that contributes.” 

“But I mean, you see the arm talent. You see the size, the ability to extend plays. He’s a dangerous player to have to go against, and he can make every throw. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to try to disrupt him, try to make him uncomfortable. We know the talent’s there.”

Lagway, who holds a 94 transfer grade from 247Sports, had a 100 grade and was the No. 1 overall prospect in the country coming out of high school in the 2024 cycle. 

Continue reading below for the full Q&A with Lagway about his visit…