Vanderbilt’s running back room has a clear top end, but the real intrigue sits just beneath it.
Ja’Veon Alexander is set to start on opening day and should be handled carefully all fall by head coach Clark Lea. He enters the year with a chance to establish himself as one of the SEC’s best backs after taking a step forward in 2025, and he’s not hiding the size of his goals.
“My goal is to be one of the top running backs in the country,” Alexander said, “And definitely be a Heisman candidate.”
Alexander likely won’t do much in fall camp because Vanderbilt plans to be cautious with him, but the Commodores know what they have: at minimum, a league-average SEC back, and maybe more if he keeps climbing. He also made it clear he wasn’t interested in leaving early for the NFL Draft, saying he had unfinished business at Vanderbilt.
Behind him, Sedrick Alexander Young is in line to share carries and could see an expanded workload. After a year away from football, he turned his chance into a real breakthrough, averaging 9.0 yards per carry and flashing the kind of big-play ability that can change a game in a snap.
Lea said during the season, “I’m so proud of him,” Lea said during the season. “To see him have these moments and with the year he was out and him having to do the dirty work to get himself back, what a great story.
It couldn’t happen to a better person.”
Young gives Vanderbilt a versatile option who can work as a safety valve for the team’s first-time starting quarterback and also complement Alexander again. The question is whether there’s enough room for him to become a true every-down weapon.
Then there’s Sedrick Alexander Lassiter, who fills the gadget role in Tim Beck’s offense and gives the staff a different kind of look when it wants to take a shot.
The more fascinating names, though, are Evan Hampton, Gabe Fields and Izayah Lee. Vanderbilt has recruited the position well, and all three underclassmen are viewed as players with real upside, even if none has fully separated himself in camp yet.
That should mean plenty of camp carries for the younger backs. Hampton, a highly touted recruit, Fields, an ultra-productive high school runner with real speed, and Lee, a freshman with physical gifts, all have a chance to show something. AJ Newberry’s departure from the program could also open up a few more carries.
Hampton may have the highest ceiling of the group. He piled up video-game numbers in high school and, by his own description, sees the game well.
“I think my ability to see the field and understand defenses is a major factor to my success,” Hampton told Vandy on SI while he was a recruit, “And I'm looking to add more moves into my inventory and continue to get stronger and faster."
He brings pass-catching ability, speed and enough physicality to matter, and if he gets on the field, Vanderbilt could have a real chance at explosive plays. It would not be a surprise if he earns a role.
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