Josh Pate Doesn’t Hesitate in Naming the Best Quarterback in College Football

Josh Pate Doesn’t Hesitate in Naming the Best Quarterback in College Football originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

College football will see plenty of fresh faces at the quarterback position in 2025 after many of the top signal-callers from last season left for the NFL.

Among the best were Miami’s Cam Ward, Ohio State’s Will Howard, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, Syracuse’s Kyle McCord and Louisville’s Tyler Shough.

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With each of those programs set to feature new starting quarterbacks in 2025, the question becomes: Which quarterback is the best entering this season?

College football analyst Josh Pate discussed the topic and didn’t hesitate to name the Florida Gators’ DJ Lagway.

“I went with DJ Lagway,” Pate said on a recent episode of “Josh Pate’s College Football Show.” “I think DJ Lagway at his best can be the best quarterback in the country. Now, I have, just like you, heard the injury concerns. I’ve seen the injury concerns. But I think when you blend raw talent and explosiveness and deep ball accuracy, when he’s at his best he can be better than anyone in the country.”

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Pate went on to say, “2025 should be his [Lagway’s] pop year.

“DJ Lagway led the SEC last year in completion percentage on balls thrown 20 or more yards downfield. And I still think there’s a way for him to level up his passing game. 2025 should be his pop year. And I’m not just talking about at Florida. DJ Lagway would be my No. 1.”

Who is DJ Lagway?

Lagway is entering his sophomore season and was rated as not only a five-star recruit but also the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2024 high school class (247Sports).

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The 2023-24 Gatorade National Player of the Year began his freshman season backing up Florida starter Graham Mertz. But after Mertz suffered a concussion and later a season-ending ACL injury, Lagway was given the keys to the offense.

The 6-foot-3, 247-pound quarterback went a perfect 6-0 in games that he started and finished, while leading Florida to an 8-5 record after the team started 4-5.

He ended the year completing 115 of 192 passes for 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

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Lagway admitted his freshman season wasn’t great by his standards, and he was “just thankful to be out there.” But now heading into the season as the starter for the Gators, he feels like he has a “lot more to prove.”

“It was a lot of things I needed to improve on,” Lagway said at SEC Media Days in July. “I was just out there. I was just thankful to be out there. I was hurting, I was playing through a lot of injury and adversity, early on, even before the Miami game. Just being out there, that’s all that mattered to me. I’m excited to just continue to get better. That’s all I’m focused on, just improving.”

Josh Pate’s Top Four Quarterbacks

Pate not only named Lagway as his top quarterback heading into the 2025 season, but also revealed his full top four, all of whom saw action last year.

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Here are the four:

• DJ Lagway (Florida Gators)

• John Mateer (Oklahoma Sooners, transferred from Washington State Cougars)

• Cade Klubnik (Clemson Tigers)

• LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina)

Related: David Pollack Reveals Why Major SEC College Football Program Has Hope Again

Related: Billy Napier Was Asked Which Game He Is Most Looking Forward To In 2025

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 11, 2025, where it first appeared.