Vanderbilt is a little more than a week from opening the season against Austin Peay, and fall camp has already started sorting out who helped and who climbed. Clark Lea’s staff has let every player know where things stand, though the evaluations don’t look finished yet. The first depth chart won’t come out until Tuesday, but camp offered a strong hint at how the roster is shaping up compared with spring.
A few players did more than just survive August. They moved themselves into better spots.
Hampton was the clear camp winner among the players who weren’t already staring at a starting job. The running back picture had some real uncertainty around him going into the month, but that has changed. He’s looked exceptional and now seems positioned as the fourth-highest usage back, with Izayah Lee still a candidate for short-yardage work.
What makes Hampton so dangerous is the package: he’s one of Vanderbilt’s fastest offensive players, he can hit top speed quickly, he’s slippery in space and he’s a more reliable receiver than he’s often been credited as. He gives the offense a real chance at a big play when he comes off the bench, even if MK Young can also bring that kind of pop. At this point, it’s fair to say Hampton has pushed past Gabe Fields and now looks like Vanderbilt’s back with the highest ceiling.
Kahden Smith also turned heads. He came into camp well off the radar, but by the end of it he had put himself in the conversation for more than a spot-filler role at receiver.
“There's a lot to like about Kahden,” Lea said coming out of the spring.” I think we can look at him and say this is someone who could find a role for himself in the fall, and now we need to use the next three months to best position him to do that, because it is challenging.
But we like his personality. We like his skills and his traits.”
Smith backed that up. He seemed to make a few plays every day and did it against some of the better corners on the roster. Vanderbilt’s top receiver group appears fairly settled, but Smith has done enough to make himself hard to ignore if the staff is sorting out snaps.
Then there’s Jordan Taylor, whose path to this point has been anything but ordinary. He arrived at Vanderbilt as a quarterback four years ago, later left for Colorado and Ball State, and now he’s back as a tight end. That’s where he’s making his case.
Taylor has shown off the kind of physical talent that can make you stop and watch. Vanderbilt tight ends coach Brendan Flaherty said Taylor has had moments that look like those of a future NFL player, along with others that suggest he might not play much at all.
More often than not, though, Taylor has made something happen. At this stage, that’s enough to keep him in the mix for snaps.
A better finish would have helped, but he left camp in a far better place than he entered it.
At safety, there’s room for more movement, and Chandler forced his way into the conversation. He still has work to do before he’s a sure thing to get on the field, but he kept showing up around the football.
Vanderbilt is expected to play CJ Heard and Ricardo Jones ahead of Chandler, and Dontae Carter’s strong finish likely helped him stay in front of Chandler too. Even so, Chandler has made a case to be part of the rotation and looks like someone the program can count on down the road.
“He had to redshirt last year and that was tough for any freshman to go through that. But he did a good job of learning from that experience.
And he can play a lot of positions and position effects ability,” Vanderbilt safeties coach Melvin Rice said. “He just makes a play every practice.”
That kind of steady work may even affect how Vanderbilt thinks about the position when the portal opens again.
Finally, Daniels arrived with some buzz and matched it. Defensive players do not always stand out in camp the way offensive players do, but Daniels did.
In a room with some questions, he kept stacking solid days, showed consistency and added a few stats along the way. Cornerbacks coach Jamaal Richardson pointed to the technique first, then the assignment work, then the plays.
“First off, the technique is showing up play after play,” Vanderbilt cornerbacks coach Jamaal Richardson said. “Sometimes we get into these long drives, it’s easy especially in the heat to start losing your technique.
But I think he’s consistent there. He’s consistent in his assignments.
Then last thing, he’s been making plays. He’s a playmaker, which got me really, really excited.”
Daniels now looks like more than just a good practice player. He looks like Vanderbilt’s third corner heading into the season.
In Other News...
Clark Lea's Rise Brings A Vanderbilt Question Fans Won't Like
Clark Leas climb at Vanderbilt has reached the point where the rest of the sport is starting to notice, and that is usually when Commodores fans get a little uneasy. ESPNs Adam Rittenberg recently pointed to Lea and Missouris Eli Drinkwitz as coaches who could be in line for bigger opportunities after the 2026 college football season, a sign of how much Lea has changed the conversation around a job that has long been among the toughest in the SEC.
For Vanderbilt, the timing makes the question even more sensitive because Lea has already delivered back-to-back strong seasons and set a program record with 10 wins in 2025. He has also earned clear support from the school along the way, but as Rittenberg noted, the next move for coaches like Lea often comes down to what happens next on the field. If Vanderbilt keeps rising, the price of success may be that more powerful programs start circling again. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Is Sending A Clear Message About What This Season Should Be
Clark Lea is not sounding like a coach easing into a reset. Even with key players gone, the Vanderbilt head coach has been talking about the strength of the programs infrastructure and the size of the window his team believes it still has in front of it. That matters in a season opener week, when the safest message would usually be about patience and development, but Vanderbilt is framing this fall around something far bigger than surviving another SEC schedule.
The quarterback competition remains a central part of the buildup, adding one more layer of intrigue before the Commodores face Austin Peay. Leas wider point is clear enough: this is supposed to be a season of building on what has already been established, not one spent backpedaling from it. For Vanderbilt, the challenge now is turning that confidence into the kind of early momentum that makes the rest of the roster believe the goals being talked about are more than just slogans. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilts 2026 Captains Say Plenty About This Teams Early Identity
Vanderbilts leadership group for the 2026 football season points to a team trying to establish itself on both sides of the ball. The Commodores named four captains in all, splitting the responsibility between defensive lineman Issa Ouattara and linebacker Nick Rinaldi on one side, and tight end Cole Spence and running back Makhilyn MK Young on the other.
The mix is notable because it blends returning presence with fresh recognition. Ouattara is back after injury, Rinaldi is getting his first captaincy, and Spence and Young are stepping into bigger leadership roles on offense. For a program still shaping its identity, those choices suggest a locker room built around balance, resilience and a few new voices carrying more weight. [Read more 🡒]