Texas A&M football: 5 breakout players to watch in 2019

4. Elijah Blades, cornerback

Am I really saying the Aggies will have not one, but two breakout defensive backs in 2019? You betcha. The junior college transfer, with one of the coolest names on the planet, is coming to A&M looking to change the culture among corners.

It has been a long while since the Aggies have had a lockdown corner, but Blades looks to reset the trend. In my most recent article, I suggested that his nickname be Elijah Blaze, due to his speed. The guy can flat out fly. There isn’t a route he can’t cover. He has the height and the speed to negate the deep ball and the twitchiness to break on a slant or an out.

https://twitter.com/TexAgs/status/1075407978633809920

He should step onto campus and be a starter from day one, and we should all have the confidence in him to be successful. The experts clearly think he has the skills to make it at the D-1 level as the number one ranked JUCO cornerback in the nation. I will be putting out a player breakdown of Blades sometime this off-season, and I cannot wait to watch more film on this kid.

He arguably takes more stress off of the Ags than any other recruit or new starter on the team. Corners have been a liability for some time, and it showed last year. A few more solid plays by the Aggie DBs, and the season could have gone very differently in Jimbo Fisher’s maiden year.

One could make the argument the Aggies would have beaten the eventual national champion, Clemson Tigers if they had tighter coverage and a few open field tackles.

While that chapter may be written in stone already, chapter two in the Book of Jimbo has yet to have been written. The addition of such a speedy character in Elijah Blades should bestow confidence and excitement amongst Aggie fans everywhere. I’m banking that the hype is 100% for real.