Caleb Brantley Declares for 2017 NFL Draft: Latest Comments and Reaction

Florida defensive lineman Caleb Brantley announced Friday he's going to skip his final season with the Gators in order to enter the 2017 NFL draft.

Brantley passed along word of his decision with a letter posted on SEC Country. He wrote his decision to go all-in on football made a major difference on his life path:

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I entered 2016 with one goal: To be the best defensive tackle in college football. If you want to be big, think big. That was my mindset. And if you say it, prove it. Over the course of the season, I stopped going out and partying. It was just football, football, football. After the third game, I began watching film every day with my position coach, Chris Rumph. I didn't miss a session.

For a kid who grew up out and about in the streets, those long hours inside the film room might seem like torture. But honestly, it was the complete opposite. It's dedication. I put it all to the grind, and it's not hard when you want it that bad. Nothing could stop me once I had my priorities in order. I reached a turning point and everything clicked.

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While the Crescent City, Florida, native may not have been the best tackle in the nation this season, he definitely made a major impact on the Gators defense. He racked up 31 total tackles, including 9.5 for a loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble across 11 games.

A lot of what the 6'2'', 297-pound lineman did for the SEC East champions doesn't show up in the box score, though. He frequently took on multiple blockers, which created time and space for the likes of Jabari Zuniga and Alex Anzalone to make plays.

The strong junior campaign left little for Brantley to prove at the collegiate level, though he's not a lock to go in Round 1 like many other early entrants. That said, he noted in the SEC Country letter that playing at the pro level is something he always thought about.

"Like many kids, this was always a dream for me," he said. "But to play in the NFL, you must be a professional and a person of good character. Those qualities aren’t easily attained where I come from."

He went on to discuss a challenging childhood that included a father who spent time in prison and a mother who worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Those factors ultimately led him to get in trouble after landing with what he described as the "wrong crowd" before getting back on the right track.

Now he's on his way to making it to the NFL. Meanwhile, his exit leaves yet another void for Florida to fill before next season, as Michael Bratton of Saturday Down South pointed out:

Looking ahead, Brantley will need to stand out during the draft process if he's going to hear his name called in the first round. CBS Sports currently lists him as the sixth-best defensive tackle in the class and the No. 61 overall prospect, pegging him as a late second-rounder.

He'd fit in best as a 3-technique in a 4-3 defensive scheme at the next level thanks to his quickness and athleticism. That doesn't mean he couldn't eventually fill a different role, it'd just create more of a learning curve and, in certain cases, force him to add more bulk to his frame.