Billy Napier’s New 235lb Beast Turns Heads as Cormani McClain Bombshell Drops Amid DJ Lagway Concerns

Florida Gators may not have had the best of seasons in 2024, but still, an 8-5 finish could cut in many circles. Having said that, there were some problems in their games that urgently needed fixing, for example, the season-ending injury of their main quarterback, Graham Mertz. There were questions all around who would take up the mantle.

Billy Napier experimented with Aidan Warner in two of the most difficult games of the season against Georgia and Texas Longhorns. The result was a tiring defeat at their hands. So, finally came in DJ Lagway. And from that point on, the Gators didn’t look back. He helped Florida to redeem a season that could have been a disaster. The next season also looks filled with optimism because Lagway is returning but also because Florida has their hands on one of the most promising prospects.

Billy Napier did a good job with his 2025 class, roping in top prospects from all over the country. 5-star wide receiver Vernell Brown III promises so much. Then Ben Hanks III is another cornerback prospect who is ranked 6th nationally in his position. In total the head coach has added some 26 freshman additions and 5 transfers. Sure thing, there will be a lot of praise coming in for his job. However, the main attraction of his class is one of the defensive prospects, who is widely said to be very ‘underrated.’

We’re talking about the edge rusher Jayden Woods. Standing at 6 feet 3 and weighing around 235 lbs, this is a prospect who has been quite under the radar for teams. Because of that, there are fewer media talks about the guy. 247 Sports describes the player as “the real jewel of this class.” This is the type of player who can play effectively in a pass-rush plan and has a wide range of rushing moves in his bag. His ball-rushing against the best of the offensive tackles by bending his runs to beat them is something of a natural talent. So, given his talent, he should easily make the cut to play as a freshman. SMI College Football Show hosts provide further reasoning as to why the player is a game changer.

“He (Jayden Woods) comes in, and just right away, everyone’s like, Wow, who is this guy? Like, we maybe overlooked from Kansas, like everyone’s saying not the best football players are coming out of Kansas traditionally, and he’s putting on a show this early on. Did some really great stuff last year, had a 90.4 PFF grade, which is the highest PFF grade that Florida has ever had with an edge rusher, and then he got like seven sacks last year doing a lot of great work at the end of the season. That is a really talented player, but they’re all talking about Woods, a new guy on the block coming in.“

The player signed for the Gators in November last year and hails from Mill Valley High School, Shawnee, Kansas. In his senior year with his school, he played 11 games and lit up the defense with 90 total tackles at an average of 8.2/game. He is also quite adept in executing sacks and has garnered 20.5 sacks all over his high school days. Surely, he will be a great addition to Billy Napier’s plan going forward. With that note, it seems there’s another quite optimistic update for Billy Napier.

Cormani McClain’s redemption arc, a thing to root for?

Cormani McClain was one of the defensive backs who had come to Florida in the 2024 season on a transfer from Colorado. Things weren’t touted to be quite good for him, as his sloppy behavior was a concern. That included missing training sessions, not watching game tapes, and not even having a grasp on the playbook. Naturally, questions would arise for Cormani when he arrived in Florida last year. He warmed up the bench for most of the season in 2024, but now it seems 2025 will be his year.

Florida Insider Cam Parker noted that McClain has improved a lot. He was specifically talking about the spring camp performances the player is putting in. “The early winner of camp is obviously Cormani McClain. I mean, he’s just burst off. You can see it at practice how much weight he’s put on. He’s muscular. He’s looked stronger. Tyler Miles had nothing but positive things to say about him.”

Well, if Miles, the director of strength and conditioning, is saying that the guy has improved, then there must be some truth to it. Add that with the player putting on 20 lbs recently and clocking in runs at 23 mph, it seems Miles improvement analysis is 100% correct. So, with the player and other defensive additions, it seems the defense has been sorted for Billy Napier in 2025. Still, he has to ensure that DJ Lagway’s health and injury concerns do not come back to haunt him and that he can deliver when the team needs him the most.