Florida quarterback transfer DJ Lagway, who committed to Baylor on Thursday, might still take other visits before signing with a school, two sources briefed on his recruitment confirmed Friday.
Lagway, the No. 9 player in The Athletic’s transfer quarterback rankings, was expected to sign with Baylor when news of his commitment surfaced Thursday, but as of Friday afternoon, he had not signed his scholarship paperwork nor his revenue-sharing agreement with the school, the sources said. A commitment is not official until a player signs.
Ole Miss, which received news Friday that quarterback Trinidad Chambliss had his waiver request for 2026 denied, is in the transfer quarterback market and has been working to bring Lagway in on a visit. Even before Lagway visited Baylor, the Rebels had been in contact with hopes of hosting him, as had other programs in need of a quarterback.
But the Rebels’ urgency to find a transfer quarterback accelerated Friday after the Chambliss decision. ESPN first reported Lagway was considering taking other visits.
Lagway entered the transfer portal Jan. 2, the first day it was open, after two seasons at Florida. The Willis, Texas, native signed with the Gators out of high school as a five-star recruit and was the Gatorade national high school player of the year. He went 6-1 as a starter as a true freshman at Florida in place of the injured Graham Mertz in 2024.
Injury issues hampered Lagway throughout his Florida career, including in the offseason leading up to 2025. Amid high expectations, Lagway had an underwhelming 2025 season, throwing for 2,264 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 12 starts. Still, many programs have shown interest in Lagway because of his size (6 feet 3, 247 pounds) and physical talent. He took visits to Florida State and Virginia before visiting Baylor.
What does this mean for Baylor?
The news of Lagway’s commitment Thursday was met with celebration among the coaching staff and the fans. It was a splash commitment the Bears needed after a rough 2025 in which they went 5-7, their third losing season in four years under Dave Aranda, who enters 2026 squarely on the hot seat.
Still, there was at least a bit of anxiety on the Baylor side Thursday that would persist until Lagway had officially signed. Those fears materialized Friday amid the Chambliss decision by the NCAA. The two sources said the timing of the Chambliss decision, which made finding a transfer quarterback an immediate priority for Ole Miss, played a role in the delay of getting Lagway officially signed.
There is still some hope Lagway will end up in Waco, though, because of his positive official visit and his ties to the state and the region. His father, Derek Lagway, played running back at Baylor from 1997 to 2001. DJ Lagway was recruited by Aranda when he was a high school prospect, and playing there would return him to his home state, only a few hours away from where he played high school football and came to stardom.
If Lagway were to flip and end up elsewhere, it would put the Bears in a tough spot. Ten of the top 15 quarterbacks in the portal have already committed, and after that top tier, many of the remaining quarterbacks available are either young, inexperienced passers from Power 4 programs or starters from Group of 5 or FCS schools. Options for teams that need an experienced Power 4 starter for 2026 are narrowing after a week of portal activity.
Ole Miss could be in the mix for DJ Lagway after the NCAA denied Trinidad Chambliss another year of eligibility. (Justin Ford / Getty Images)
What other quarterback options are out there for Ole Miss?
If Ole Miss can bring in Lagway on a visit and sign him, it would leave the Rebels in a much better place than they are now. But he isn’t the only one they’ve shown interest in.
Ole Miss has vetted Auburn transfer Deuce Knight, a five-star recruit in the Tigers’ 2025 signing class. The 6-foot-4, 217-pound Knight threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 162 yards and four touchdowns in his lone 2025 start, a 62-17 win over Mercer in November. Knight is the No. 13 quarterback in The Athletic’s transfer quarterback rankings.
Ole Miss returns AJ Maddox, a four-star recruit in its 2024 signing class. He served as the No. 3 quarterback this season behind Chambliss and Austin Simmons. Earlier this week, Simmons transferred to Missouri, so quarterback is a major need for the Rebels.
Why have we seen delays and last-minute flips in this transfer portal cycle?
Just like high school recruiting, in the transfer portal, a commitment is not official until the paperwork is signed. Longtime recruiting fans became accustomed to drama around a player’s commitment and final destination until he signed a letter of intent, which was the document that officially bound the player to the school until that program was phased out in 2024. Players — high school recruits and transfers — now sign financial aid agreements that bind both parties together and bar other schools from recruiting a prospect.
But in the revenue-sharing and name, image and likeness era, players are typically signing the financial aid agreement and a revenue-sharing and/or NIL contract. If a player verbally commits while on a visit to the school, the player cannot sign that day because of a longstanding NCAA rule. Bylaw 13.1.5.9 in the NCAA’s Division I manual said in-person contact with a recruit, whether on- or off-campus, is prohibited on the day the player signs a financial aid agreement.
So if a player commits on a visit, the player must wait until at least the next day to sign. That creates some lag time, and aggressive programs can make last-minute efforts to flip a prospect.
Even if the commitment happens while not on a visit and the player can sign immediately, players typically have their agent or an attorney or adviser review their contracts before signing them, and that takes time. In this portal cycle, it hasn’t been unusual to see a player announce his commitment to a school and then see the school announce his signing 24 to 48 hours later, once all the paperwork is completed.
And because this year’s transfer portal window is open for only 15 days and started in early January, there’s a time crunch for teams that want to get their signees enrolled for the spring semester.
The portal window is only for entry — players can take as long as they wish to commit — but teams are working to sign and enroll players before the spring semester enrollment deadlines at their institutions so the players can participate in spring practice.
There is no spring transfer portal window this season — the NCAA eliminated that in September — so there’s no second chance for teams to fill roster needs as there has been the last three offseasons.