College football: 5 teams that won’t be as good as you think in 2021

How can Florida replace Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Kyle Trask?

The Florida Gators are coming off their best season of the Dan Mullen era. Florida won the SEC East for the first time since 2016 and nearly defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide to possibly reach the College Football Playoff. However, Florida struggled mightily in the weeks following Darth Gator. Florida finished with a less-than-stellar 8-4 record. Things will not get easier in 2021.

Florida loses its three best offensive players to the 2021 NFL Draft in John Mackey Award-winning tight end Kyle Pitts, First-Team All-SEC wide receiver Kadarius Toney and Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Kyle Trask. With last year’s team being very much an offensive-minded one, do not expect the Gators to repeat as SEC East Champions again in 2021. They will pull back a bit.

Naturally, their biggest threat next season in division will be the Georgia Bulldogs. Whoever wins in Jacksonville will almost certainly end up being the favorite to represent the SEC East in Atlanta. Florida does have a talented quarterback in Emory Jones, but he is far more unproven than what Georgia has returning in JT Daniels. Florida also has several other tough games on its schedule.

In addition to Georgia, Florida has to play Alabama next fall during the regular season. While that game is at Ben Hill Griffin, Florida will be underdogs at home in their SEC opener. The Gators must also face the cross-divisional rival LSU Tigers in Death Valley. LSU should be infinitely better than the team it field a year ago. Somehow, the 2020 Tigers defeated the Gators in The Swamp.