Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) throws the ball during fall football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]
Florida freshman quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] has only been with the program since January, but [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] is already noticing some development from the former five-star recruit.
“Just overall comfort level with the system,” Napier said of Lagway at his Saturday press conference. “I had a conversation with him the other day coming off after practice one, and you say ‘I know that wasn’t perfect, the (first) practice day is never perfect, but just think about where you’re at now compared to where you were at after spring number one.'”
Napier pointed to the summer program, which is heavy on the mental side of being a quarterback. Learning a college playbook is a completely different beast from most high schools. Lagway has the physical gifts of a five-star, no doubt, but the mental side of things will separate him from the rest of his peers.
“I think all the things that we do with the quarterback throughout the summer (helps),” he said. “There are two 4D Gator lesson plans each week; they get them on Monday they’ve got to turn them in on Friday. The padding that the quarterback is required to do all throughout the summer. He just jumped into that for the first time, and I think he made tremendous growth. Knowledge of defense.”
Padding, in this context, isn’t the stuff that keeps the players safe. It’s a method of diagramming opponents’ plays, most notably used by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
Lagway is impressing on the field as well. The raw talent has always been there — throwing power, accuracy, etc. But refining mechanics makes things tidy and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/billy-napier-says-freshman-qb-222357529.html
Author : Gators Wire
Publish date : 2024-08-04 22:23:57
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