Running back Mike Blakely will transfer from Florida, according to UF via GatorZone's Scott Carter. And another one bites the dust.
Blakely's a smallish running back, listed at 5'9", 198 pounds, and seems more like a Chris Rainey/Jeff Demps clone than the sort of physical back one would expect to be more successful in a pro-style system. Additionally, Blakely would likely have been fifth or sixth on the depth chart — Demps, Rainey, Mike Gillislee, and Mack Brown would all theoretically be ahead of a freshman, even an early-enrolling freshman — and had shoulder surgery after coming to Gainesville in January that limited him in spring practice.
There's "no word" on restrictions on where Blakely could transfer, according to Carter, but Blakely told The Alligator's Bryan Holt that he cannot transfer to an SEC school. That means he'll likely transfer first to a junior college, and from there to an SEC school. In any case, this sounds mostly like a bad fit, and shouldn't be a huge loss.
Besides the players currently ahead of Blakely, remember, Florida has commitments from Mike Jones and Mike Davis, who would both have competed with Blakely for playing time in 2012 and beyond.
Thoughts? (Beyond "We hardly knew ye," anyway?)