5-star target reveals why Florida football will be a serious national title contender

Florida football just got a ringing endorsement from a 5-star cornerback who might flip his commitment. Billy Napier’s team is coming off an impressive win against LSU and now looks to continue its momentum into a Week 13 matchup against Ole Miss. Regardless of this coming Saturday’s result, quarterback DJ Lagway and company are already turning heads from prospective recruits. That includes Ohio State commit Na’eem Offord.

The top-ranked cornerback in the country has been sparking rumors about potentially flipping his decision over the past few weeks. Offord did nothing to quell those rumors with his recent take on the Gators and their future, according to On3Sports Transfer Portal reporter Hayes Fawcett. Offord confirmed that the Gators are a “legit contender” to land his commitment and offered this statement to Fawcett.

“I feel like Florida is gonna be a top contender the next couple years with DJ (Lagway) at QB. He plays a big role. Plus, they’re young with multiple freshmen on the field.”

Florida football is finally gaining the momentum it’s been waiting for

A week ago, the Gators were in grave danger of posting their third straight losing season under Billy Napier and lacked a signature win. Now, Florida football looks to duplicate their upset against then-No. 22 LSU against No. 9 Ole Miss to secure bowl eligibility. A winning record would be a great turnaround for a program that looked dead in the water after starting quarterback Graham Mertz tore his ACL against Tennessee.

Freshman QB DJ Lagway has taken on the starting job ever since and played very well, especially for a true freshman. The former 5-star recruit has thrown for seven touchdowns and five interceptions against a gauntlet of a schedule.

The Gators have gradually improved in those weeks with Lagway under center. Florida blew out Kentucky 48-20 and then surprised many pundits with their close 34-20 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. It’s important to note that in that rivalry game, Lagway went down with a hamstring injury while the Gators were up 10-3 in the second quarter.

The injury against Georgia caused Lagway to miss the 49-17 blowout to the Texas Longhorns. With this in mind, Billy Napier’s team has been consistently competitive with top-25 teams when the talented freshman sign caller has been the undisputed starter. And it’s not hard to imagine why. The Willis, Texas native, has one of the strongest arms in the SEC. This talent was on display against Kentucky, where Lagway averaged 37 yards a pass.

Overall, Na’eem Offord has a fair point that the future is bright in Gainesville. Despite the hot seat rumors, Billy Napier will return for the 2025 season. And even with that speculation about his future, the Gators’ head coach has had a top-15 recruiting class every year he’s been with the program. That trend should only continue now that prospective recruits know Napier will coach next season.

Nevertheless, Florida football must continue its winning ways to maintain this goodwill. Losing against Ole Miss and 1-9 Florida State can completely change the tone in Gainesville about Napier’s future. The former Louisiana head coach is finally gaining speed with a program used to competing for championships. That momentum can skyrocket with a win on Saturday.

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