Transfer Tracker: Texas A&M DB enters the portal
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The transfer portal never stops grinding. After a promising first season at Texas A&M and then opting out in 2020, former four-star defensive back Elijah Blades entered the portal on Thursday.
Recruiting: Blades initially signed with Nebraska in 2017, but never made it to Lincoln, instead ending up at Arizona Western C.C. Blades later signed with Texas A&M during the Early Signing Period over offers from Oregon, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and several others.
At Texas A&M: Blades started six games during his first season at Texas A&M, finishing with 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and three pass breakups. He then opted out of the 2020 season and then announced he would be declaring for the NFL Draft before deciding to return to College Station for the spring semester. He participated in spring practice with the Aggies.
Potential landing spots: While it is early, a number of schools have already been in touch with Blades, including Illinois, Oregon, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas, Florida and UCF.
Farrell’s Take: Blades should be a hot commodity as a long corner out of the portal because that's a position that gets a ton of interest. As a west coast kid I expect more Pac-12 schools to get involved because he has that upside but it's been a long time since he was a high school player with not a ton to show of it. This is the second school he hasn't panned out at so his value is reduced.
Impact Meter: 5.7 out of 10
IMPACT METER
The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and manage their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.
1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.
4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.
6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.
9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.
10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.