Florida's Downward Spiral Shows Importance of Will Grier Suspension

In mid-October, Florida was 6-0, sitting pretty in the race for the SEC East title and was a legitimate contender for the College Football Playoff.

Then starting quarterback Will Grier got suspended for a full year for violating the NCAA's policy on performance-enhancing drugs prior to the road trip to LSU, the Gators dropped their first game of the year and the offense fell apart.

Sure, they still won the SEC East.

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That's more due to the fact that the rest of the division has been a mess for a full season, not just half the season like the Gators currently are.

The offense has regressed under backup Treon Harris, whose dual-threat ability doesn't fit what first-year head coach Jim McElwain wants to do with his quarterbacks. The Gators averaged just 318 yards per game over their final six games, including a putrid 257 yards in a 27-2 loss to Florida State on Saturday night at The Swamp.

Despite the struggles, there was never a consideration to replace Harris by McElwain.

In the game Saturday night vs. the Seminoles, the Gators had virtually no big-play ability.

They averaged 3.2 yards per rush as the Seminoles stacked the box, just 4.4 yards per pass and fed Harris quick routes in which he had to make one read and then decide to tuck it and run.

As ESPN's Ed Aschoff noted, the 'Noles had Harris' head spinning and the Gators offense reeling.

Grier was the catalyst. 

He was the centerpiece.

He was the reason Florida's offense went from punchline to potential power, and when he was removed from the lineup, the Gators offense regressed to something that resembled the worst of the Will Muschamp era.

Grier threw 10 touchdowns and only three picks during the first six games of his redshirt freshman campaign, threw for over 200 yards in his final three and finished the regular season 12th in the SEC with 48 passing plays with 10 or more yards despite playing only half of a season.

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The offense has gone back to the dark ages without him.

What's even more concerning is that, while the presence of time this offseason should help Florida be a little more diverse, Grier has to sit out six more games to start the 2016 season after his appeal was denied. 

Is the light going to come on for Harris this offseason? It's impossible to assume that at this point, just as it is for another option to take control of the offense and establish an identity.

Florida will play Alabama next week and, at least technically, be 60 minutes away from an SEC title. But in terms of contending for a playoff berth, Florida is on the wrong end of a long drive on the Florida Turnpike from that kind of consistency.

On top of Grier's pending six-game absence to start 2016, running back Kelvin Taylor is draft-eligible, along with wide receiver Demarcus Robinson—who was suspended for the regular-season finale on Saturday night.

Florida has been looking for an offensive identity ever since the loss of Grier, and that quest is likely to continue for another 11 months—when Grier is eligible to return to action.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.