Texas A&M senior cornerback Elijah Blades opted out of the 2020 season on Sept. 1 but announced he would return to College Station in 2021.
Blades changed his mind and announced Tuesday he is declaring for the NFL draft in 2021.
“I’ve been on the road to recovery to get back to 100 percent from surgery and now that I have, I wanted to announce that I will be forgoing my last season and entering the NFL draft,” Blades wrote on social media. “My time at A&M has been amazing, and I will truly miss my fellow players.”
Blades made six starts in 2019 after transferring from Arizona Western Community College. He was expected to start this season.
He finished last season with 19 tackles, three pass backups and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Blades missed the final three games last season due to injury.