Florida Gators WR Trevon Grimes Declares for NFL Draft, Won't Play in Bowl

The Florida Gators will have to move forward to end its season without one of its best players in receiver Trevon Grimes.n

As should be expected near the end of the year, the No. 7 Florida Gators will be playing in its bowl game without several of its starting players, including wide receiver Trevon Grimes who has officially declared for the 2021 NFL Draft, and has opted out of the Cotton Bowl against the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners.

Gator Nation, Thank You !🧡💙 #Grimetime pic.twitter.com/na5NrmnCA4

— Trevon Grimes (@trevongrimes8) December 28, 2020

Grimes becomes the second Florida football player to opt-out of the bowl game. Shortly following the team's loss against the Alabama Crimson Tide over the weekend in the SEC Championship game, Gators tight end Kyle Pitts opted out of the Bowl game, declaring for the draft in his own right.

Grimes, a senior, originally joined the Gators as a transfer player from Ohio State. Since he has signed with the team, Grimes has accumulated 97 receptions for 1,444 yards and 14 touchdowns. This season, the senior receiver hauled in 38 receptions for 589 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Gators will have to work to replace a couple of its star receivers in the coming years in Grimes and receiver Kadarius Toney. Both stared in this year's pass-heavy Florida offense that included Grimes as the team's third-leading receiver.

Toney would finish the regular season with 70 receptions for 984 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading the team, while Pitts would come in second with 43 receptions for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns.

For now, the Gators will participate in its third-straight New Years Six Bowl game under head coach Dan Mullen in hopes to carry the momentum from this year's grueling season that included eight-straight weeks of SEC matchups for Florida, including last week's contest against the Crimson Tide.