Vanderbilt Commodores TOP 10 Football Players for 2024

it's a big year for Clark Ley and the Vanderbilt commodor a year in which you comeing off a 2 and 10 season you need to find a way to improve otherwise you're going to have to question how long Lee's tenure will be here the top 10 returning players they have coming back bring plenty of intrigue the staff did a great job of bringing in talent and they've retained a number of key players but is that going to be enough for Lee to stick around one of the more underrated linebackers in college football is CJ Taylor this is a guy who is extremely athletic plays you know plays linebacker but isn't boasting that linebacker frame that we're kind of used to traditionally this is a guy who is a little bit on the Slimmer end of things but this is an athletic player who can make plays for this defense Clark Le is that defensive mind who came from Notre Dame and he has plenty of options and plenty of ideas for what he wants to do with the talent on his roster and CJ Taylor is a player who can do everything for Vanderbilt's defense 55 tackles last year seven and a half tackles for loss two interceptions two Force fumbles he is an absolute monster when he needs to be and Vanderbilt needs him to be that this year this is someone who's going to need to step up in a big way someone who's going to need to take that next step and be a leader both a as a verbal leader lead by example and when you're looking at what this defense needs they need to improve and a guy like CJ Taylor leads the way another linebacker is Langston Patterson I I think that you're looking at a player who could have a big year a lot of teams know what Taylor is capable of doing that leaves a lot of opportunities for guys like Patterson 74 tackles last year eight tackles for a loss when you look at what Vanderbilt did last year defensively it wasn't great you look at the numbers they had and it's easy to see why there's some doubt going into this season now granny you're playing in the SEC that's not going to be easy that's not an easy route to go for any team but Vanderbilt knows what they're getting into this isn't new to them it's just a matter of do they have the the right Talent on the roster Patterson is one of those guys who maybe isn't your your best linebacker in the conference in terms of talent but he is someone who can make plays he is someone with Taylor who can find a way to help this team and again this defense needs to make improvements and and guys like Patterson and Taylor are going to lead that charge it's just a matter of how much more Improvement can they show we talked about Clark Lee going to get Talent from the transfer portal and the quarterback Position will play a huge role it's been kind of up and down at the position for the last few years and Diego Pavia could be a great answer to some of those woses he was a an influential player for New Mexico state and I was a little bit surprised to see him come to Vanderbilt a year in which he threw for over 2,900 yards 26 touchdowns he also almost rushed for a thousand yards and and seven touchdowns that's the kind of production that would put fer built in the conversation for a bowl game especially after a 2 and10 season they need a dramatic turnaround and and Diego Pavia is one of those electric players that can do that for him now he's going to enter a competition and he's going to have to win the job but he is someone who could be for this commodore's offense back to the defense side of the ball I think that this front seven might be one of the most underrated groups in college football anas dezmo is another player that adds to Patterson and Taylor and you're looking at a player who is just getting started 33 tackles six tackles for l two and a half sacks not the best production of any player that we'll talk about in this top 10 series or any T player we'll talk about going into the college football season this is someone who has serious Talent has the ability to make a huge impact for this team if he can find a way to improve on those numbers you're looking at a Vanderbilt defense that won't be near the bottom anymore this may not be the most elite defense but you have talented players that can make this defense much better than it was last year we also went to the transfer portal to help that front seven he got Zen wood from Middle Tennessee uh didn't have the best stats in 2023 but if you look at his career production this is a player who will have a big time impact a little bit under sized at 6 feet 275 lbs but he is someone who can be a Major Impact player he's a good compliment to what DMO will do on the other side of the football and again this front seven has a lot of potential and when you look at the numbers of what they did last year getting to the quarterback will be a a feature will be a focus of this defense especially that front seven and it's going to help the secondary which goes through it kind of a transition period And I think that that's going to be huge for a a defense like I said that struggled mightily last year stopping teams and it's not again we're not going to see an Elite defense but I think you're going to see a much improved defense for Vanderbilt in 2024 back to the offensive side of the ball Junior Cheryl has potential for a breakout year the quarterback position plays a huge role in this obviously you have Pavia coming in maybe that solves a lot of their problems but when you look at the talent that they lost lost somebody needs to step up losing will Shepard was always going to hurt but you need someone that can fill his shoes and Junior sherol doesn't have the frame of will Shepard but the production could be his 293 yards and three touchdowns last year again more of that rotational player but I think that he has the speed to be explosive for this offense and when you give him more touches I think that's only going to mean good things this is a player who can expand the field make things a little bit more difficult for the guys that they're facing for the secondaries they'll face and again when you look at the production that they lost somebody needs to step up and a guy like Junior Cheryl could be that guy now another guy who's gonna compete with Pavia is Utah transfer Nate Johnson and don't know if I saw a ton from him at Utah in terms of what he could do as a passer only completed just over 54% of his passes 499 yards three touchdowns obviously the legs are there I'm sure that Vanderbilt will find some packages to utilize him but I've yet to see what he can do in terms of winning this job has the experience at the power five level so that's probably the one thing that he has over Pavia I think Pavia has the confidence right now that gives him that edge now Nate Johnson if he finds a way to become a better more consistent passer then you're looking at an offense that could take a step forward and you'll see a good quarterback battle between those two but I think for now keep an eye on him but I don't know if I necessarily think he's going to win that starting job bring back Position will be a huge position this year because this is a team that finished 124th running the football and in the SEC that is not going to get the job done it's easy to see why this team went two and 10 last year but you can also see why there's reason to believe it's going to be a better team in 2024 Cedric Alexander comes back after rushing for 3 171 yards and four touchdowns and again when you're in a group that finish 124th there's really only room to go up there's not much room to fall back even further and if you can find a rushing attack again quarterback position with both Johnson and Pavia regardless if who wins that job you have a quarterback that will be an impact player running the football the passing attack can be consistent then you're looking at a team whose rushing attack should take huge strides this year one thing that's surprised me after this past year was the fact that Vanderbilt finished 65th in passing now is that great by any means no but it's still better than any other stat you see on your screen here this is a team that again had underrated talent and there's a reason why you lost players to Colorado to Georgia you had talented players on this roster and now you have to fill their shoes we talked about that earlier you have to find someone who can Will Shepard's the one that I point to and quinsey skin is probably someone who fills that role a little bit better simply based off frame now production wise you're going to hopefully see a step forward from him 204 yards and three touchdowns and just 20 catches you're going to see again more opportunities for guys like Skinner four guys like Junior Cheryl that's going to be huge because I think you have the talent to make that happen and when you look at what this team could be if these wide receivers are just waiting for their turn turn and they are they're the players that this staff expects them to be this passing attack is going to be really fun to watch and finally on the defense side of the ball the secondary I mentioned before needs to take a step forward finishing 129th even in the SEC for vanderbel is just not acceptable Clark lead will not accept that as the standard they have a different set of expectations so getting a guy like Rondon fontanet is absolutely huge he's a big body player at 62 214 pounds that gives you good size on the back end of your defense and he comes in from TCU needing an opportunity Vanderbilt gives him that chance to Showcase what he can do you see the size that's going to help him you see the athletic frame when you watch him play and again if you even take the slightest step forward Vanderbilt is a much better team again it does not take a ton to see Improvement for this team if you have even the slightest Improvement defensively I mean most of these stats they're in the the hundreds even if you get that into the 80s you're seeing a much improved team doesn't guarantee that you're G to make a bowl game you're at least going to see a better team that's tougher to beat and last year we saw a number of games in which this team did not look good we saw a number of of games in which you saw Vanderbilt struggle mightily especially defending teams and when you bring a number of talented players along with the returning talent that you have coming back then it's looking more and more like this will be a much improved team a team that could make a bowl game and if that is the case Clark Ley will feel a little bit better about his job status heading into 2025