Exclusive: Sedrick Alexander Feels He is Set Up For More Progression This Fall

The last time Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander played in a regular season game, it was in a Commodores’ 45-24 win over their in-state rival Tennessee. It was a statement win from Vanderbilt that stemmed off a career night from Alexander.

That night, Alexander recorded his first career game with over at least 100 rushing yards. Alexander carried the ball 10 times for 115 yards and three touchdowns. While quarterback Diego Pavia captained the ship of Vanderbilt’s offense last season, Alexander played just as much of a role that night.

Going into this season, though, Alexander wants more of those types of games. From a personal perspective, Alexander wants to continue to improve as a player, and he wants fans to expect that from him this season.

“I believe that I’ve got better on the field each and every year, so I think they should see and they’re definitely going to expect progression,” Alexander told Vandy On SI. “Then, they’re going to see the leader in me on the field. They're going to see a person who wants to get everybody going, and just the person that has his team feed off of the plays that I make, and just a role model.”

Last season, Alexander finished with 567 yards and 11 touchdowns on 105 carries, good enough for 5.4 yards per carry on the season. Alexander would love to go over 600 yards in a season and then some for the first time in his college career this fall. But on top of that, he – alongside all of his teammates – wants to bring Vanderbilt football to a place it has never been before in addition to his personal improvement.

“My first goal is to be the best player I can be for my team and then lead my team to a national championship. Then, also give myself a chance to be drafted in the 2027 NFL Draft,” Alexander said.

The goals Alexander has from a team perspective is something that is ingrained into every player in the program. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea has instilled a winning culture inside the Vanderbilt locker and has established a standard of falling in love with the process and letting the results pour out.

The rushing attack is going to look quite different this year compared to last season. There is no Diego Pavia on the roster to lead the team in rushing. Whoever the quarterback turns out to be will not be as run heavy in running the offense as Pavia was. That is going to put more responsibility on Alexander and the rest of the running back room.

But Alexander and the rest of the room embraces that challenge. The more responsibility the running backs have indicates the more rushing attempts running backs will get this season. For Alexander, he feels opportunistic about the outlook of the new-look running game this fall and how impactful the other Vanderbilt running backs are to his development going into his final season.

“Yeah, it definitely gives me a chance to prove myself. I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned over time is that competition brings out the best out of each and every one, so I think just me being in a running back room full of talented people, I think that just makes everybody's progression excel, and it gives us a chance to bring out our best play when we're on the field,” Alexander told Vandy on SI. “So I'm very excited about this running back room and what we got to bring. We're led by a great coach and Coach Langford, and we're just excited to see what this season holds for us.”

Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google