Former Texas A&M defensive back Elijah Blades will transfer to Florida, he announced on Instagram on Friday night.
He is expected to arrive on campus by the end of next week. He should fall under the NCAA’s new one-time transfer rule and be eligible to play this fall. If he’s able to pick up the new playbook quickly, he’ll compete with Jaydon Hill, Jason Marshall and Avery Helm for playing time.
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Blades initially committed to the Gators as a four-star recruit during the summer prior to his sophomore year at Muir High School in Pasadena, California. He decommitted seven months later and eventually signed with Nebraska.
Blades didn’t meet the academic requirements and was forced to go to Arizona Western Community College. He broke up nine passes and intercepted two in a couple of seasons there.
He then committed to Oregon over the Gators as a junior college recruit, but he ended up flipping to Texas A&M shortly before signing day in 2018.
He started six games for the Aggies in 2019 and broke up three passes. He also notched 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
He suffered a shoulder injury during the 2020 preseason, which led to him opting out of the season and declaring for the NFL Draft. He changed his mind and returned to Texas A&M for the spring semester but entered the transfer portal in June.
He took an official visit to UF a week later and had been considered a Florida lean until he made things official on Friday.
Blades is a longer corner at 6-foot-2, and he’s known as a physical player in both man coverage and in his ability to blow up running plays. The Gators will be relying on those qualities to help turnaround the secondary after a poor showing in 2020.