Who else will contribute to defining Florida’s season now that DJ Lagway is back?
ESPN put out a list yesterday that said the Florida Gators had the 5th best offseason of anyone in the SEC.
We here at Hail Florida Hail have mused about Billy Napier’s lack of aggression in the transfer portal, but as ESPN points out, the Gators also retained a bunch of key talent heading into 2025.
It’s with that in mind that these are the five most important returners for the Gators heading into the 2025 season.
Florida Football’s destiny will be determined by DJ Lagway. To put the Gators’ star player aside, DJ Lagway is the player on the team who will have the biggest impact on Florida’s performance in 2025. The greater challenge for Lagway is whether he can increase his accuracy on intermediate routes and whether he can manage eight-man coverages more skilfully than he did in 2024, disregarding all the various subplots surrounding his shoulder condition.
Eugene Wilson
We highlighted Wilson yesterday and the need for him to actually run routes in 2025 compared to being the gizmo and gadget player he has been in his first two years in Gainesville.
Even if Lagway is great, he still needs receivers to throw it to, and with the departures of Chimire Dike and Elijhah Badger, Wilson needs to step up and be a No. 1 WR in 2025.
Jake Slaughter
It’s not often a team can retain an NFL Draft-eligible First Team All-American, but that’s what Florida was able to do with Jake Slaughter.
Slaughter will be the anchor for an offensive line that returns four of its five starters. The unit did improve by season’s end compared to their disaster-class of an opener against Miami, but the hope is they can keep Lagway a little cleaner as they did allow double-digit pressures against FSU and Tulane.
Caleb Banks
Lagway is by far the most important player on the roster for the Gators, but Caleb Banks might not be far behind in terms of how much trouble Florida would be in if he gets hurt.
