One of the clearest strengths - and one of the biggest pressure points - for Vanderbilt’s 2026 team sits on the back end of the defense. The Commodores believe they have enough playmaking in the secondary to swing games, and the safety room looks like a major reason why.
The group got older, got more experienced and added a potential difference-maker in Ricardo Jones. That combination gives Vanderbilt a safety room with real intrigue heading into the fall, especially with the secondary expected to do plenty of heavy lifting no matter how the offense looks.
CJ Heard is the anchor of the projected depth chart. He spent the 2025 season in the Vanderbilt system, started all 13 games and turned in a steady, productive year. Heard tied linebacker Bryan Longwell for the team lead with 71 tackles, and he also finished with an interception, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
Now a junior, Heard is stepping into a bigger leadership role, and he knows it. He said, “Last year I was a guy that was figuring it out.
I was figuring out Vandy and figuring out everything. But this year it’s not just leading by example, but being vocal about it.
I’m trying to be consistent everyday with how I work, prepare and recover,” Heard told Vandy On SI. “I always used to be the guy who just likes to show it, but now I’m bringing people along and I’m being vocal about it.”
What Heard wants most this season is more disruption. He made it clear that the goal is to be around the ball and create turnovers.
“I'm gonna be a guy that creates turnovers, if that's interceptions, forced fumbles, I'm making a lot of plays on the ball. I'm gonna be around the ball a lot. I’m going to be one of the best faces in the SEC on defense not only because I play, but because of my leadership with the way I’m going to bring the team together and the defense together,” Heard said.
Jones is the other headliner. Vanderbilt brought him in from Clemson, and his sophomore season gives the Commodores plenty to like. He led the ACC last year with six interceptions, added 25 tackles and three passes defended, and even returned one of those picks for a touchdown.
That kind of production is hard to ignore, even if repeating six interceptions in a tougher league would be a tall ask. Still, Vanderbilt clearly sees the same thing in Jones that Clemson did: a safety with ball skills and the instincts to make offenses pay.
“From the moment he stepped onto the field, he just brought a grit to the defense. Just a guy that can rally up the group in the safeties room.
Positionally, just ball skills like field awareness, route awareness and where the quarterback is going with the football,” Rice said of Jones in the spring. “That’ll be a big piece to us this year is having somebody that can attack the ball.”
Dontae Carter is another name to watch. He enters his third season with Vanderbilt after appearing in all 13 games last year and finishing with 33 tackles. Carter didn’t record an interception, but he took a step forward from his freshman season and looks like a player who could keep climbing.
For now, he sits behind Heard and Jones in the projection, but his tackling gives Vanderbilt a dependable option if the staff needs another safety on the field.
The room as a whole has changed. Marlen Sewell is gone after graduating, but Heard stayed, Jones arrived and Carter kept building. Davin Chandler also has a season under his belt, adding to a group that is older and more seasoned than it was a year ago.
“They’re experienced. They know what it takes to win. The older guys did a great job of bringing the young guys along,” Vanderbilt safeties coach Melvin Rice said of his position room in the spring.