Vanderbilt’s roster makeover is real, but so is the confidence around it.
The Commodores are coming off a program-best 10-3 season and now have to move on without star quarterback Diego Pavia and star tight end Eli Stowers. Even with those departures, head coach Clark Lea sees a team built to keep winning because of what returns. Vanderbilt checks in with the 34th most experienced offense in the country, the No. 4 defense in the country, No. 2 in game experience in the country and No. 12 in returning starts.
“Just in terms of quality depth, I mean, this is probably the best team we've had,” Lea told Vandy on SI. “Obviously, we have some big gaps to fill, and some of those gaps were our production leaders from a year ago, but I like this team. I like where we are.”
That outlook is reflected in Vandy on SI’s top 20 player rankings, which are spread across all three phases and every offensive and defensive position group. At No. 12 is cornerback Jones, a player whose résumé is built on production, even if the ranking leaves room for questions about exactly what Vanderbilt will get in his first SEC season.
Jones finished 2025 with 39 tackles, three passes defended and one forced fumble. The number that stands out, though, is the six interceptions he picked off, which led the ACC last season. He played 716 total snaps for Clemson and posted the most interceptions by a Clemson player since 2009.
His jump came fast. After logging only 124 snaps as a freshman in 2024, Jones broke through as a sophomore, started 12 games and earned All-ACC honors. Now he’s set to test himself in the SEC.
A No. 12 spot feels low for a player who has already shown he can take the ball away at a high level, but the uncertainty is part of the equation. Another six-interception season is a tough ask, yet Jones still projects as a real factor for Vanderbilt.
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For a program that has spent plenty of time trying to convince elite prospects it can compete with the leagues bigger names, this is the sort of commitment that changes the conversation in a hurry. Vanderbilt did not just get a highly regarded player, it got one whose game lines up with the coachs system and whose interest held through a recruiting process that had plenty of attention around it. The bigger question now is whether this can become the kind of breakthrough that leads to more in the same cycle. [Read more 🡒]
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Ebel arrives with a strong leg and a track record that should at least give Vanderbilt reason to feel better about field position. Last season, he averaged 46 yards per punt and pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line on 37% of his attempts, the kind of production that can quietly change how a game plays out if it carries over in the SEC. [Read more 🡒]