Aidan Warner's transfer from Yale to Florida fell under the radar, but after Graham Mertz's season-ending injury, the former Gator fan now finds himself as DJ Lagway's immediate backup.
' 2024 season has been one of a "next man up" mentality, and that mentality is no stranger in the quarterback room. After a concussion and now-ACL tear to starter Graham Mertz, the Gators turn to freshman DJ Lagway as the starter, but his backup is one not many know about.
"It was unreal. I don't even remember it. I blacked out," Warner said. "It was the coolest moment of my life. Really what I dreamed of since I was a little kid.""The day of the Samford game, Saturday morning, is when they told me that I was going to, you know, if we were winning by enough, I was going to get a chance there," Warner. "So after that, I knew that I was the second string.
"I was at the FSU game last year with my family, and I experienced a night game here in The Swamp, and I told my family, like, I don't care if I never played a down there. I want to go there," Warner said. Even his arrival to Florida in January didn't come without some difficulties, though. His physical revealed he had a complete ACL tear, which he was told was a sprained MCL while at Yale. A surgery and rehab period later, Warner recovered in time for the Gators' 2024 season.
In only two appearances, both of which came after the games were well out of reach and in games where Mertz was unavailable, Warner is 2-for-3 for 30 yards and a nine-yard rushing touchdown. He hasn't been asked to play much, but his role as the Gators' immediate backup to Lagway far extends past what happens on the field, though.
Warner even finds himself now mentoring Mertz, whose ACL injury is very similar to the one Warner previously suffered. Both had it happen while making a cut, and with Mertz around six months away from a possible Pro Day work out, Warner is advising him in his recovery based his own experiences.
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