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Adding Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes gives Florida chance to be explosive offensively for first time since Tim Tebow era
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With fall camp set to begin, Dan Mullen’s Florida program received a jolt of positive energy Thursday morning when the NCAA announced it had approved immediate eligibility waivers for wide receiver transfers Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes.
Grimes, a former 4-star talent from Florida prep powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas who transferred to Florida from Ohio State, is eligible to play immediately. Because Jefferson, a junior, is transferring from Ole Miss, he’ll need an additional waiver from the SEC to play this fall, as the league traditionally does not allow intra-conference transfers that are not graduate students to play immediately. Nevertheless, because Ole Miss is on probation, the SEC is expected to grant Florida’s waiver request.
The tandem would add additional firepower to an already talented Florida wide receiver corps. Both participated in spring drills, including the spring game.
Grimes, who at 6-4, 202 pounds has prototypical NFL size and speed, will provide Florida with something it has lacked of late: a vertical threat to complement Tyrie Cleveland and a fade route red-zone weapon who can battle smaller, less physical corners and win 50/50 balls. Grimes will also be highly familiar with Mullen’s offensive scheme, having played in Urban Meyer’s Ohio State spread, which shards many of the Mullen spread tendencies.
Jefferson is an even bigger prize.
The son of longtime NFL wideout and now Dolphins WR coach Shawn Jefferson, Van is a polished and fluid route runner with soft, reliable hands who is outstanding at creating separation in tight coverage. More critically, he has played — and produced — in the SEC. With 91 catches for 999 yards in two seasons at Ole Miss, Jefferson earned Freshman All-American honors in 2016 and was Ole Miss’s second-leading receiver in 2017 despite battling a lingering hamstring injury.
If/when both players become eligible, they’ll join a stable of blue-chip receivers that includes Joshua Hammond, Tyrie Cleveland, Daquon Green and incoming freshman Jacob Copeland, who chose the Gators over Alabama. Couple those talents with the playmaking ability of Kadarius Toney, who is working hard to learn the “Percy Harvin” role in Mullen’s offense, and Florida should have a position group capable of producing explosive plays and spreading defenses out horizontally and vertically.
Of course, everything remains contingent on developing competent quarterback play, but that’s a Mullen specialty, and if Mullen can make one (or two) of Emory Jones, Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks functional, Florida suddenly looks like an offense with a bunch of playmakers.
That’s something that folks haven’t been able to say about Florida since the end of the Tebow era in 2009, and paired with a veteran offensive line and the deepest set of running backs Florida’s had since the Spurrier era, the Gators should have a chance to be, at a minimum, respectable on the offensive side of the football.
Neil Blackmon covers Florida football and the SEC for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
