Defensive Takeaways After Day Two of Vanderbilt Football Fall Camp

NASHVILLE -- The grind of fall camp for Vanderbilt football continued Thursday with the second day of practice for the Commodores.

The Commodores know that they have to use the month of August wisely and be sure to develop and unlock the maximum potential out of everyone on the roster with now less than a month to go before their first game of the 2026 season.

Thursday’s practice had some encouraging signs from both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Here are a few things that stood out defensively on Vanderbilt’s second day of practice.

Davin Chandler Was Really Good

It felt like the practice was scripted for Davin Chandler to show what he can do and how he can help Vanderbilt’s safety room due to how active he looked in practice. Time and time again, Chandler seemed like he was in the area of where the ball was.

Wherever the ball was, Chandler was there. He made plays both in coverage and after a ball was caught. Perhaps it was just a good day for him, but it is something to certainly monitor when looking at the scope of the safety room.

Vandy On SI projects that CJ Heard and Clemson transfer Ricardo Jones will be the guys that are starters amongst the safety room, but the question is who the guys will be after those two. Dontae Carter is a guy that could easily be the No. 3 safety, but Chandler could make a push for that spot, too, especially if he continues to make plays in practice over the next couple of weeks.

Depth Pieces in the Linebacker Room Made Plays

The position room on the Vanderbilt defense that feels the closest to a sure thing on production is the linebacker room. Everyone knows about the three veterans the Commodores have leading the room between Bryan Longwell, Nick Rinaldi and Bryce Cowan.

However, there were two other linebackers that looked encouraging in Thursday’s practice. Sophomore Austin Howard found himself making plays and so did Josiah Broxton. Howard did a nice job of putting a stop to plays, seemingly eliminating what could be bigger plays from happening. Broxton made plays as well in the middle of the field, including getting his hands on one ball.

After practice, Longwell talked about the progression he has seen from Howard over time leading into camp.

“That dude is kind of a freak athlete. His charge was to take coaching and apply it on the field. He’s really made strides on doing that,” Longwell said.

A Freshman Safety Got in the Mix, Too

The other encouraging sign amongst the safeties Thursday came from a new face to the program. True freshman safety Mason Lewis found himself in good situations during practice as well.

Lewis found himself in the area of where the ball was more times than not and was able to make plays when he was in those scenarios.

It is not an indication that Lewis will see the field a ton, nor is it an indication that he will be in the mix for the routine lineup of safeties Vanderbilt will use in games. But it is a possible glimpse into what the future could hold for Lewis in his Vanderbilt career.

Overall, it was an encouraging day for the defense, particularly the second and third level guys. It will be noteworthy to see how the depth pieces at each position on defense progresses. What needs to be seen more of in the coming days and throughout camp is the performance of the defensive line. A true evaluation on the defensive front will come whenever pads come on in practice at some point later in camp.

For now, though, Vanderbilt may have some guys that seem to be making improvements in their skillsets.

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