, and Florida's is none other than sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway.

"Lagway got his first taste of starting duty last season when Graham Mertz suffered a knee injury against Tennessee. He helped the Gators turn what once looked like a disastrous season around while throwing for 1,915 yards and 12 touchdowns," Backus wrote. "He has the potential and talent to do so, so much more. So long as he can improve in his decision-making, Lagway should be one of the top offensive players in college football by season's end."

Advertisement

While it might be a bit of a gimme, Lagway is the only reasonable choice when picking the MVP of Billy Napier's roster. Lagway emerged as one of the best young quarterbacks in the country a season ago, and the only other player competing with him for that title has the last name Manning. Florida's offense played differently with Lagway under center, and he has the most hype of any Gators quarterback since Tim Tebow.

However, Lagway is dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the spring game. The health concerns for him are real entering his first full year as a starter. If Lagway's anything but 100%, Florida's offense may be in trouble. Yes, the running back room and wide receivers room have a lot of talent, but they are dependent on Lagway drawing the attention of the defense.

Gator Nation is expecting one of the best seasons in recent program history, but the team will go as Lagway does.

Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as , and like our page on to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football's most valuable player is DJ Lagway, per CBS Sports