Florida football recruiting: California cornerback Elijah Blades commits to Gators|UF Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

Florida added a much-needed defensive back to its 2017 recruiting class on Wednesday, as rising senior cornerback Elijah Blades of Pasadena, California committed to the Gators, announcing the move on Twitter.

DREAM COME TRUE GOTTA CHASE IT #SWAMP pic.twitter.com/fqrUjCwTEF

— ELIJAH – BLADES SZN™ (@savageszniv) June 22, 2016

Blades is a four-star player per the 247Sports Composite, and its No. 222 player and No. 26 corner. 247Sports itself thinks a bit more highly of Blades, whom it sees as a four-star player and the No. 160 player in the country. He’s also a four-star player according to Scout, and a three-star per Rivals. (ESPN has yet to rate him.)

And at 6’3″ and 170ish pounds, he’s got the size to be a bigger corner in college football. His highlights suggests he may also have the skills, though they’re, well, terrible — Blades makes an interception offscreen before even the first minute is up.

Blades picked Florida over Arizona, which had been in hot pursuit of him, and is the eighth (and second-highest-ranked) member of a Gators recruiting class that now sits 38th nationally per the 247Composite.