RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Vanderbilt football is going into the 2026 season with a high amount of turnover on its roster.
After being one of the most experienced teams in the country in 2025, the Commodores lost several of their top contributors but brought in help through the transfer portal and the freshman class, including bringing in quarterback Jared Curtis , the No. 2 recruit in the 2026 class.
Gone are Heisman runner-up Diego Pavia and NFL draft second-round pick Eli Stowers. But several key players also return, including Martel Hight, Bryan Longwell, Sedrick Alexander and Junior Sherrill.
Here are the positions that have seen the biggest upgrades and downgrades since last season:
Biggest position group upgrades
Running back
Vanderbilt upgraded its running back room the old-fashioned way: by keeping its main contributors and then adding on top of that. Every significant contributor from last year is back: Sedrick Alexander, Makhilyn Young, Jamezell Lassiter. On top of that, freshmen Evan Hampton and Izayah Lee have had exceptional camps.
This is unquestionably Vanderbilt's deepest position, with a variety of backs who can do a variety of different things. Even if one of them were to go down, this position group will still be going strong.
Safety
Vanderbilt lost Marlen Sewell, but it made up for that by adding Clemson transfer Ricardo Jones and returning most of its other contributors, including Dontae Carter and Carson Lawrence. There are also hopes that some reserves can take a step forward, like Davin Chandler, Jalen Gilbert and Jailen Ruth.
Cornerback
Martel Hight is back, and he isn't trying to be a two-way player anymore. That should allow his performance at corner to tick back up.
Even with Marlon Jones, Mark Davis and Kolbey Taylor gone, Vanderbilt is in a good spot to weather their losses with newcomers like Cobey Sellers, Jaylin Davies and Bishop Starling. There is also the chance for steps forward from Jordan Matthews and Cayden Daniels.
Biggest position group downgrades
Quarterbacks
This isn't a knock on Jared Curtis and Blaze Berlowitz, but when you lose the Heisman runner-up, you're naturally going to see a position downgrade. Diego Pavia did things the Commodores have never seen before, and they'll be replacing him with a quarterback with very little in-game experience.
That said, Curtis has the upside to eventually become decorated in the same way Pavia was. That almost certainly won't happen in 2026, though.
Tight end
A similar situation to Pavia in that this was always going to be a downgrade after the loss of Eli Stowers, but there's no one with Curtis' upside in the tight end room currently.
In preseason practices, Cole Spence has been involved some in the passing game, but the other tight ends have been almost invisible.
Vanderbilt often used two-tight end sets in 2025, but the extra tight end will likely be replaced by extra running backs in 2026.
Wide receiver
Vanderbilt returned Junior Sherrill but lost Tre Richardson and Richie Hoskins. Sherrill has looked excellent in the preseason, and Old Dominion transfer Ja'Cory Thomas looks like a capable No. 2. After that, there are a lot of question marks. Tristen Brown has done some nice things, and Kayleb Barnett is fast but also extremely small.
Richardson will be missed, especially as Vanderbilt breaks in a new quarterback.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson .
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ranking the Vanderbilt football position groups with the biggest upgrade, downgrade
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