Langston Patterson Admits He Wasn't Right in 2024. Now He "Feels Good" and Is Ready to Contribute in 2025

Nashville–Perhaps Langston Patterson’s ankles are taped up as he takes the practice field nowadays, but those aren’t an indicator of his health.

The veteran Vanderbilt linebacker was good to go and moving around freely as Vanderbilt opened fall camp on Wednesday morning. He wasn’t taking that for granted, though. Patterson suffered a “freak little tweak” to his ankle in Vanderbilt’s upset win over Alabama and had to pay the price for it.

Vanderbilt’s defensive captain still had flashes of playing like himself in there–as well as an increase in total tackles due to an increase in playing time–but missed Vanderbilt’s wins over Kentucky and Ball State. While he tried to build a reputation as Vanderbilt’s workhorse and pushed to be its leading tackler, Patterson was often in a boot and performing below his normal level.

“It was tough,” Patterson said. “I was able to play hard, not at the health level I wanted. But, as the year kept going my ankle just kept getting better and I just kept getting better.”

Patterson says he had to wrap up his ankle “pretty good” in his return to the field against Texas on Oct. 26, which was an indicator of his health even if his tape job wasn’t noticeable. The Nashville native was involved in just two tackles that day and appeared to be below his normal workload.

Then, he got right.

After recording just 12 total tackles in the three games following his return from injury, Patterson recorded 13 in Vanderbilt’s loss to LSU and followed it up with a 13-tackle performance again in Vanderbilt’s final game of the season against Tennessee.

“As the season started going, we started facing LSU and Tennessee and the bowl game–which were some of my better games–it started to feel better,” Patterson said while indicating that he’s healthier now than he was throughout the end of the 2024 season. “I feel good.”

Patterson finished 2025 as Vanderbilt’s second leading tackler and its fourth-leading solo tackler largely due to his late-season breakout. Perhaps had he been healthy the whole way, he could’ve overtaken fellow linebacker Bryan Longwell as Vanderbilt’s leading tackler.

The rising senior knows that if he’s going to get himself back to that level–which he reached as Vanderbilt’s leading tackler in 2024–he’ll have to be available. Everyone knows what Patterson can do, he’s just got to do it in each of Vanderbilt’s games for it to be successful.

As a result, he’s emphasizing taking care of his body in new ways.

“For me it’s just about being smart, protecting my body because at 100% I’m a lot better than I am at 80%,” Patterson said. “I’m just trying to change my diet habits. I’m just trying to eat better, stay healthy. I’ve been working a lot with coach [Nick] Lezynski on body control, trying not to put my body in compromising positions in practice and stuff like that. I’m just a zero percent or 100% type of guy and sometimes that mentality can lead you to compromised positions.”

In some ways, Patterson’s emphasis on body care is emblematic of his growth as a whole. He’s no longer a naive–but not clueless–freshman. He’s a veteran acting as if he’s a veteran.

Perhaps Patterson will end the season as Vanderbilt’s leading tackler, perhaps he won’t. He’ll look to put himself in a position to compete for titles like that and to elevate Vanderbilt’s defense in its first full year under Steve Gregory with his health, though.

So far, so good in that regard. Patterson is finally right again. That could go a long way for him.