Florida stars Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes, Marco Wilson returning for 2020 season

By Adam Silverstein
January 19, 2020
Florida stars Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes, Marco Wilson returning for 2020 season
Football

Image Credit: ESPN Images

The year 2020 has started with a bang for Florida Gators football as redshirt sophomore cornerback Marco Wilson and junior wide receivers Trevon Grimes and Kadarius Toney announced that they will return to the program for their fourth seasons of college football. Grimes will enter his third season with the program after transferring from Ohio State two years ago.

With the Gators losing four of their top six pass catchers to graduation, Grimes returning is particularly important. He finished as the team’s fourth-leading pass catcher with 33 receptions for 491 yards and three touchdowns. Though he only had three catches for 21 yards in the final two games of the season, Grimes will be elevated as one of the team’s top wideouts alongside rising redshirt sophomore Jacob Copeland in 2020.

“I am excited to say that you will see me playing in The Swamp in 2020. I want to finish my degree and help lead the University of Florida to a championship,” Grimes wrote in a Twitter message. “Happy New Year, Gator Nation.”

After a breakout sophomore campaign in 2018 that raised the belief that he would be an impact playmaker in 2019, Toney had a stunning 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown in Florida’s season opener against Miami. However, those expectations wained significantly as he suffered through an injury-plagued season for the second time in his career. Though he averaged 21.7 yards per reception, he only had 10 catches for 194 yards and a touchdown over seven games and was not as dynamic a rushing threat as he had been previously. Toney announced his decision Sunday on Instagram.

Those hopes will be rejuvenated in the 2020 offseason, and if Toney can stay healthy, he should have plenty of opportunities in his final season, particularly now that so many of head coach Dan Mullen’s veteran playmakers have departed.

Following a standout true freshman season in 2017, Wilson missed nearly the entire 2018 campaign due to injury and took a medical redshirt. He returned in 2019 to moderate success after moving to the star position but lacked consistency as he did not appear to be as sharp as he was out of high school. An additional season should improve his draft stock, and Wilson could also apply for a fifth year of eligibility should he so choose at the end of the 2020 campaign.

“I will be returning to the University of Florida for another year,” he wrote on Twitter. “Our team has a lot of goals that we are still working to accomplish and I would love to be part of that experience. I cannot wait to get back to work with my brothers for this upcoming season.”

With all three players returning, junior CB C.J. Henderson is the only Gators player to declare for the NFL Draft with eligibility remaining at this time. Redshirt junior quarterback Feleipe Franks previously announced he will enter the NCAA transfer portal and seek opportunity elsewhere in 2020.

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